Bound By Blood 3
by Lyonene
Summary: Mark and Isis are back along with their extended family. The madness that took Glenn is explained when they encounter other -older- vampires, who have several curious things to inform the small clan. Like they aren't the only supernatural ceatures around.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This one was written in 2007. And as a note: Jaden is actually based off of my friend -Jaden, lol. As she went through different phases on guys she liked, I changed the men in the story accordingly. Which in turn led me to give her the nickname of Black Widow later on in the story, you'll see why. Anything in brackets/italics is 'mind speak', let's see... And anything that seems completely random; sorry. I write off the cuff. *shrug* Enjoy! _

**CHAPTER 1**

"Is it just me or has Jeff turned into a major asshole lately?"

Mark looked up from the table he was repairing, glancing at what Isis was staring at. He frowned when he seen Jeff apparently yelling at Jaden. "Yeah, he's turning into an asshole. What the hell is going on with them these days?"

Isis shrugged. "Maybe he's got cabin fever."

Mark sighed, returning to the table. They had been at Jaden's log cabin in Montana for about two years now, hiding from the world and living off the local wildlife, which there was plenty of. They ventured into town whenever they felt like it, the normal six hour journey not bothering them, if their jeeps broke down, they could run and be either home or safe in the town in a matter of minutes.

Isis frowned. "I wish I knew what was wrong with Jeff… I don't like him hollering at her all the time."

**********

Jaden stared at her lover, crimson tears welling in her eyes. "Jeff, please, just stop." She pleaded, her heart breaking with each word he shot at her. "Just stop."

Jeff glared at her, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I hate you." He spat quietly before walking off.

Jaden watched him go, crumpling to the ground.

"C'mon darlin', get up." Isis whispered, wrapping her arms around her friend.

Jaden let Isis help her get to her feet. "Jeff…" She sobbed.

**********

Jeff stalked angrily through the woods, every now and then a string of curses escaping him.

After the excitement with Glenn and Shannon ended, Jeff found he had a lot more time to think about things. Things like Matt… God how he missed his brother! Then other things began to run through his mind. He could never have a family, never hold a baby on his knee. He'd never be able to walk about in the warm sunlight again, never have any human friends unless he wanted to watch them die.

Jeff hated what he was… and he hated Jaden for loving him. If she didn't love him, he might've been able to end his miserable existence, but instead felt obligated to her now, no longer reciprocating the feeling.

**********

"So… what are we doin'?" Isis asked curiously, staring up at her mate.

Mark smiled down at her, lovingly squeezing her hand. [_I thought it might do Jaden and _

_Jeff some good to get away from the cabin_.]

[_Good idea_.] She smiled back.

Jeff glanced at Jaden, shrugging her away when she tried to touch him. "Don't."

Jaden recoiled as if he had struck her.

Jeff rolled his eyes and took her hand. "Happy?"

Jaden lowered her head, not wanting him to see the crimson tears in her eyes.

"Don't start blubbering." He cautioned, bending down so only she could hear him.

Jaden nodded.

"We're going to go look at those stalls." Mark gestured to some booths that were set up.

"You two behave yourselves now."

Jeff smiled painfully. "We will."

"I love all night festivals." Isis laughed as she and Mark walked away.

"Come on." Jeff muttered, dragging Jaden into a nearby shop, anxious to be away from Isis and Mark's knowing eyes.

Jaden gasped when she accidentally walked into someone's chest. "I'm so sorry!" She said quickly, not noticing she was no longer holding Jeff's hand. In fact the only thing she was noticing at the moment was this person's delicious aroma and the scent of cologne.

"Don't worry about it."

Jaden looked up into a pair of amused, blue eyes and had to bite her lip to keep from gasping.

"I'm John."

"Jaden." She smiled when he took her hand, completely unaware she had extended it.

"Pleasure to meet you." John said softly, raising her hand to his mouth and kissing it.

Jaden could only keep on smiling, suddenly breathless.

Then she was brought back to reality.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jeff demanded, stomping up to the pair. "Jaden, have you forgotten who in the hell you're here with?"

Jaden snatched her hand back, staring guiltily at her boyfriend. "I…"

Jeff draped a possessive arm over her shoulders, staring icily at John. "I'm Jeff, Jaden's boyfriend." He put stress on that last word.

John nodded coolly, not too keen on the way Jeff had spoke to Jaden. "Jaden, nice meeting you, maybe I'll see you around." He flashed a strained smile at her before walking out of the shop.

Jaden hesitantly looked up, shrinking back when she seen Jeff's eyes had tinted red with fury.

**********

John froze when he heard glass shatter behind him and spun around to see Jaden laying in the snow not more than two feet away. "Jaden?" He hurried over to help her, amazed to find her perfectly all right.

Jaden quickly got to her feet, brushing glass out of her hair. "I'm fine."

"What happened? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's nothing." She stared where the window used to be, breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't see Jeff. "I've got to find my friends…"

"Well let me help you," John said firmly, taking her arm. "Something tells me you didn't trip and fall through that window."

Jaden didn't reply.

**********

[_Who's that with Jaden?]_

Isis glanced up from the book she had been browsing to find Jaden and a rather attractive man approaching them. [_I don't know_.]

They walked up to the pair, politely puzzled expressions on both their faces.

"Isis, Mark," Jaden began weakly. "This is John."

"Hello." John greeted calmly. "You must be Jaden's friends."

"Yes, we are… where's Jeff?" Isis asked softly, knowing something must've happened.

"Jeff um, he took off." Jaden explained lamely.

Mark arched a red eyebrow. "Took off?" His voice was grave sounding.

"More like he shoved her through a window." John supplied.

Isis' eyes widened. "He did what?" She roared, lowering her tone when she seen John wince and cover his ears. "Sorry, I have a big mouth." She apologized quickly.

"Nothing to worry about." He replied good-naturedly.

Jaden sighed dramatically, shooting John a dirty look. "We got into a fight and he pushed me through a window."

"Where is he now?" Mark demanded angrily.

"I don't know, he took off."

Isis placed a hand on Mark's forearm. [_Calm down, she's upset and if you upset her more, I'm gonna clock you one.]_

Mark inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. "Let's just go home." He said after a moment.

Jaden nodded miserably.

John let go of her arm, appearing somewhat reluctant. "What if her boyfriend comes back?"

Mark turned steely green eyes on the younger man. "Then he'll have to deal with me."

John repressed a shiver at how evil this man's baritone voice sounded.

**********

[_Where is she at?]_

Mark smiled amusedly at Isis. "Outside hunting, you can talk."

Isis swatted him gently upside the head. "Shaddup, I just didn't want…" She shook her head, peering down at the table. "Hmmm…"

"What?" Mark stared at her.

"This corner needs sanded down more. You trying to stake us to death?"

Mark glanced at the corner and frowned. "It's not…" He trailed off when he seen her smirking. "You're such a wench."

Isis smiled playfully. "I know."

**********


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Jaden wandered the clothes rack at the local Wal*Mart super center, trying to decide if she liked the blue jeans or the black jeans better. She was in town doing some shopping, trying to bolster her depressed mood. She'd been moping around the cabin for a month now and still Jeff hadn't come back, not that she was in any hurry for him too, especially since they had a big bay window in their bedroom… No, she was good.

Finally Jaden to get a pair of each color and tossed them into the cart, wandering over by the shirts. She desperately wished for some tee shirts, hating the feel of bulky knit cable sweaters on her skin but it was constantly cold here so the mortals stocked up on winter items like it was going out of style.

The weather didn't bother here, being vampires neither she nor Isis and Mark really suffered from the cold too bad, though if they were exposed to it for hours on end they found that their skin began turning blue.

Now it wasn't the same for heat, they all enjoyed sitting in front of a roaring fire and letting the warmth wash over them. That they could feel.

Another one of the unsolved mysteries of being a vampire.

Jaden sighed disgustedly when all she found were more cable knit sweaters and turtlenecks, heading for the lingerie, in hopes of maybe finding a chemise to wear instead.

She had just started going through a rack of baby doll cut nightgowns when a familiar scent wafted by.

"Try the green one, it'd bring out your eyes."

Slowly she turned around to find John behind her, leaning on a shopping cart of his own. "Hi."

"Hello." He smiled at her, amusement making his eyes crinkle. "I was wondering if I'd ever get to see you again."

"You were? Why?" She blurted out.

He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe to see if you got rid of your loser boyfriend yet?"

Jaden pushed her hair back over her shoulders, frowning slightly. "Yeah, I haven't seen him…. Since that night actually."

"So you're free?"

She arched an eyebrow at him.

"Want to get something to eat with me then?"

Jaden felt her stomach drop. "Actually, I ate not too long ago," Technically, that wasn't a lie… "But I'll come watch you eat."

"Agreed."

**********

"There, it's finished." Mark announced, stepping away from the table.

Isis smiled, running her hands over the smooth finish. "It's gorgeous darlin'." She said, beaming at him proudly.

"I could never do these things when I was alive, you know, really alive." Mark looked down at his hands. "I was too clumsy."

Isis sat on the countertop, looking at him curiously.

"In a way, I'm grateful for what happened, with Damia and Gabriel." Mark walked over to stand between her legs, wrapping his arms around her.

"Even the part about never having children?" She asked softly.

Mark looked down in Isis' eyes, taken aback by the sorrow he found there. "Isis, you never told me you wanted kids."

"What's the point?" She whispered. "We can't have them anyways…"

Mark rested his head on top of Isis', feeling his heart break when she began to cry.

**********

"Hey Mark." Jaden greeted cheerfully, strolling into the front room of the cabin, closing the door behind her, oblivious to the nasty weather outside.

Mark glanced over his shoulder at her from his place in front of the fire. "Hey J, how was the trip?"

"Great." Jaden tossed down her numerous shopping bags on the couch. "There's some nasty weather coming this way, we'll probably be snowed in."

"Hmm…"

Frowning, Jaden walked across the room to sit in the rocking chair besides him. "Is everything all right?" When he didn't respond she leaned forward to touch his shoulder. "Mark, is everything okay?"

Mark looked up at her, his green eyes troubled. "It's Isis."

"Speaking of, where is my country bumpkin wench?" Jaden asked.

"In bed."

"All ready? There's still an hour or so left before dawn."

Mark sighed. "Yeah, all ready."

"Is everything all right?"

"Isis wants kids."

Jaden looked startled. "What?"

"Children, Isis wanted them."

"Oh…"

Mark sighed again. "She never told me until tonight…"

Jaden remained quiet, not knowing what to say.

**********

Isis kept her eyes shut even when she felt Mark come to bed. Feigning sleep she pretended not to notice when he pulled her into his arms.

"I love you." He murmured, burying his face in her hair.

Once he was asleep, Isis sighed raggedly.

**********

"I'm beginning to hate snow." Jaden said, staring out the window.

Isis walked over to her. "Yeah, it's does get ol' after awhile."

"We should've picked a spot where it's always summer."

"Always summer means more daylight…" Isis reminded gently, an amused smile on her face.

"Oh yeah." Jaden groaned. "I'm getting cabin fever! What's Mark doing?"

Isis shrugged. "He's out in his workshop."

"How about we go down to the city?"

Isis looked out at the falling snow and then back around the cabin. "Yeah, I'm with you.

Anythin' to bring a lil excitement."

"Should we tell Mark?"

"Nah, I'll just write a note."

Less than a half hour later the two were dressed and out the door.

"Um, I don't know about you, but the last time we took a truck out by ourselves, we ended up destroying it," Jaden began. "I'm not in the mood to cause an avalanche today."

"Neither am I." Isis' mouth curled into a smile. "But…"

**********

A few heads turned when the sounds of laughter reached the town. Soon a four wheeler came into sight, two people on it.

"It's those crazies from the mountain." A woman said scathingly, exchanging dark looks with a man.

He just nodded, never taking his eyes off the approaching couple. Finally he excused himself and disappeared down an alleyway.

**********

"I'm drivin' on the way home." Isis laughed, dismounting and shaking her hair out, tucking the helmet under her arm.

"I'm not a bad driver!" Jaden protested, pocketing the keys.

"You did a jump over the river…"

"Yeah, so?"

Isis just shook her head.

"Where to first?" Jaden asked, looking around the Christmas lit pavillion.

"I don't know, holiday shopping?"

"Sounds fun to me."

They roamed the streets, stepping into the shops that closed around eight or so first, enjoying the fact that it grew dark early here.

"You know, either we have to find a way to get Mark to bring the truck down, shop less or buy a wagon for our wheeler…" Isis laughed, walking out of a boutique with Jaden, their arms laden with bags.

I'm thinking the wagon idea sounds pretty good. Something tells me Mark wouldn't be to happy with having to drive down the mountain just so we can shop."

"Probably not."

After a half an hour they had managed to procure a decent trailer with a cover to attach to the four wheeler.

"That is so much better." Jaden laughed as they walked away from it, not paying any attention to the stares they were receiving.

Isis didn't reply, she was too busy looking ahead, a knowing smile on her face.

Jaden followed her friend's gaze, surprised to find John walking towards them, his eyes locked on Jaden.

Isis excused herself, disappearing into a little hobby store.

"Hello." Jaden greeted, raising her eyebrows curiously when John halted in front of her.

"Hi, fancy seeing you here." John smiled down at her. "Don't you ever come down during the day?"

Jaden forced herself to smile back. "I'm pretty busy during the day, around the house and whatnot…"

"Oh… mountain folk."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

John started laughing. "Nothing."

Jaden pursed her lips, thinking that he looked really edible.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Isis frowned, staring at the two wood burning kits in front of her. She had thought it'd be near to buy a set for Mark, so he could start detailing the things he was building, she just didn't know which one to get. Finally she decided on both and stuck them in her little shopping basket.

After selecting a couple more items, including some cross stitch to keep her occupied, she headed to check out, not aware of the suspicious eyes on her.

Isis laid the items out on the counter, looking up at the clerk. She frowned when she seen the woman standing back with her arms crossed over her chest. "Is somethin' wrong?"

"I don't serve people like you in my shop." The woman said coldly.

"Pardon?" Isis' own eyes narrowed dangerously. "I've been here a'fore and my money was good enough then."

"It isn't now so leave."

***

"So when can I see you again?"

Jaden stared up at John, pushing her hair out of her face. "I don't know…" She drawled teasingly. "I kind of like this bumping into each other thing we've got going."

"You're a flirt, you know that?" He grinned down at her.

"I've been told a time or two yes."

John started to say something else but was interrupted by a woman's shrill screams.

Jaden spun around to find Isis stalking out of the hobby shop, apparently struggling to keep her temper in control from the semi demonic look on her face. "Oh snap." She whispered, running over to her friend.

Next a woman came running out of the shop, brandishing a gun. "Demon spawn!" She shouted.

"Isis!" Jaden screamed.

Isis spun around and snarled, lunging forward and knocking the gun out of the woman's hands. "Have you lost your damn mind?" She growled., slapping the shopkeeper to the ground.

"Servant of Satan!" The woman hollered, tears streaming down her face as she crossed herself. "Unclean creature of the devil!"

Isis rolled her eyes and mocked crossing herself. "You need to stop watching so much television." She said coldly before turning her back on the woman and walking over to Jaden. "I think it's time to head home."

"What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, she wouldn't serve me and then the wench tossed holy water on me." Isis snorted, pulling a rag out of her back pocket, wiping the water off her face. "For some reason she thought I'd melt or something."

"Is everything all right?" John asked, walking up to them, concern etched on his handsome face.

"Fine and dandy." Isis muttered.

Jaden shot John an apologetic look. "I've got to go, sorry."

"Maybe next time." John smiled dramatically.

"Maybe."

{_Mark, we're gonna need help_.}

{_All right, I'm on the porch waiting_.}

Jaden wasn't surprised to see Mark when the cabin came into view. She parked the four wheeler, turned it off and dismounted, removing her helmet. She wondered if Isis had also mentioned what had happened in town.

Apparently not because Mark was peering in the wagon they had bought. "Ever consider just leaving my money alone?"

"What would be the fun in that?" Isis said, removing her own helmet and standing up.

Mark stared at her, frowning. "What happened?"

"Huh?"

He quickly crossed the few feet that separated them, running a finger over her face. "Holy water?"

"How the hell did you know?"

"Jaden was thinking about it."

"Wait, you read my mind?" Jaden demanded, mildly annoyed.

"No, I received some images that you were thinking about." Mark replied coolly. "What happened?"

Isis quickly recounted what had happened in the shop, along with the aftermath in the street.

"Sounds like she knows what we are."

"That's impossible." Isis protested. "We don't hunt people anymore…."

"All the same."

"Great, jus' what we need, another mob comin' to kill us."

Jaden watched as Isis spun around and stalked into the woods. "What does she mean by that?"

"The townspeople where she used to live knew what she was and went after her, a regular nightmare straight out of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, we had to run to the hills. They burnt everything." Mark explained.

"And you think we might have another one of those on our hands?"

"Possibly."

"Maybe it's time to move."

"Maybe."

Isis halted when a very familiar scent reached her, standing still. "Jeff, you can come out, I know you're there."

"I thought you might."

Isis slowly turned around to find him standing in a patch of moonlight, just staring at him.

"I came to tell you something."

"Tell me what? Why you pushed Jaden out of a window perhaps?"

Jeff didn't even look ashamed or regretful. "I stopped loving her Isis. I stopped loving everything."

Isis arched an eyebrow.

"I came to warn you that people wonder about the three of you. Why you never come to town in the day, why you're so pale, so beautiful and terrible at the same time. They all know what you are and are planning on killing you."

"I found that out tonight."

Jeff nodded, staring at her. "The shopkeeper at the hobby store, a religious fanatic. She keeps crosses and garlic on her person at all times though you probably shocked her when you didn't repel from the holy water."

Isis didn't bother asking how he knew about that.

"They plot to come up the mountain, to your cabin and destroy you all, in the daylight hours when they know you'll be defenseless."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I still care for you, and as much as I might hate what I am and what I've lost, I remember the kindness you've shown me."

Isis didn't move when he embraced her, getting enough glimpses from his mind to know what he was going to do. "Jeff, no, not like that." She murmured.

Jeff sighed, his face buried in her loose hair. "Don't say any more Isis, I've made up my mind, I can't bear to live like this any longer… I miss my mortality and… Matt."

Isis felt some of the coldness of the night's events leave her, being replaced with sympathy. "So what will you do?"

"Go into the sun."

Isis stepped back, unsure if she heard correctly. "Into the sun?"

"Into the sun."

Before she could say anything else, he hugged her tightly one more time. "Goodbye." Then he vanished, leaving her there with icy tears rolling down her cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Jeff was removed from the story because when I started writing BBB2, Jeff was tossed in there for my amusement. Then I popped Jaden in there and when I got around to writing BBB3 she took an interest in John Cena so I killed off Jeff! He'll be back eventually, as will Glenn so don't miss him too much! The focus bounces back and forth between characters because I liked exploring them, again, all written off the cuff so things bounce._

**CHAPTER 4**

Mark and Jaden were more than worried when Isis hadn't returned by the next evening, both thinking that someone or something had gotten a hold of her. So they set out in the woods, determined to find her, alive or dead.

Figuratively speaking of course.

It wasn't that hard to track her, her scent was all over the place, so was Jeff's.

That, of course, made Jaden panic, remembering when Jeff had tossed her through a window.

They found her sitting, rocking back and forth, shifting something in her fingers, a spot of disturbed ground telling them she had slept in the earth.

"Isis, baby…" Mark trailed off when he seen what she was rubbing in her hands.

Ashes.

"Oh no… Jeff…" Jaden whispered, dropping to her knees. "He…?"

Isis nodded, looking up to reveal her bloody, ash stained face. "He stayed up until dawn and let the sun… let the sun…" She started crying again, bringing her hands to her face.

Mark pulled her up into his arms, soothing her. "Jaden, back to the house."

Jaden nodded, standing up, looking numb.

When Mark started back towards the cabin, Isis reached out. "The ashes! Scatter the ashes!"

Jaden hesitated a moment before doing as bid, feeling her heart drop down past her ribs.

Once they were inside, Isis disappeared into the bedroom she shared with Mark.

Mark glanced at Jaden helplessly before following his distraught mate.

Jaden sank down onto the couch, staring into the still raging fire, unable to believe that Jeff was dead. She only snapped out of her reverie when she heard footsteps on the snow, crunching along towards the house, whoever it was not bothering to be stealthy.

Growling angrily, she got up and quickly made her way outside via the back door, all her predatory senses kicking into high gear. When she made it around front, all she seen was a heavy winter coat in front of the living room window, the person wearing it obviously peering inside.

Rage filled her, contorting her face into something decidedly not human, fangs out and eyes blazing red. Snarling she leapt, growling in the back of her throat when her prey tried to pry her off his or her back.

Jaden merely wrapped her legs around her next meal's waist and tore away the hood, driving her fangs straight through the person's neck. Draught after draught she drained, slowing down when she began to catch images of this person.

Then, reeling back, she realized who she had been drinking from.

John!

***

"Isis…" Mark sat down besides her on the bed. "Come on baby, stop crying."

Isis raised her head off the pillow, looking ghastly with blood streaking through the ash she had rubbed all over her face. She just stared at him.

Mark sighed, standing up and walking into the bathroom. After turning on the hot water, he returned to the bedroom. Mark quickly undressed Isis before carrying her to the tub, gently laying her down in the water.

Isis was silent and docile through all this, allowing him to wash her body and hair. Just sitting, letting the steam caress her. Finally she lay back against the cool porcelain, closing her eyes.

Mark gazed down at her, studying her while he tenderly washed her arms. Sometimes he forgot how young she had been, still was. In the few years they had been together he had grown to love her more than anything, but he couldn't recall a time he had ever asked her about her dreams or aspirations. Perhaps he thought they didn't matter any longer, apparently though, to Isis they had been everything.

Children.

He still couldn't believe she wanted children. He had never given much thought to having kids, never seeming to have the time for them. If they were still mortal, he would love to have children with Isis, they'd be so beautiful.

"My hair and your eyes, beautiful indeed." Isis murmured, never opening her eyes.

Mark almost blushed.

"Don't worry about it beloved." Isis smiled slightly. "I'm content now. I have you by my side and Jeff is at peace now." Her eyebrows drew together slightly, recalling what Jeff had told her, her eyes flying open. "Mark, the people in town, they know what we are."

"What?"

"They know we're vampires and they're comin' to kill us, sometime soon, any day now. They'll attack while we're asleep, when they know we'll be defenseless."

"Jeff tell you this?"

She nodded.

Mark sighed, running a hard through his hair. "Then we'll have to leave, as soon as possible."

"Where too this time?"

"I don't know, maybe head to Texas, I still have a place there."

"Texas?"

"Everyone there is used to my odd hours so it won't seem strange if I'm only seen out and about after dusk." Mark explained. "The fact that I have two women with me won't matter much either, might incite a bit of gossip but…"

Isis punched him, not appreciating the grin on his face. "You're a pig."

***

"Oh shit! John? John!" Jaden carefully lowered him to the porch, knowing that his mortal body probably wouldn't stand the shock of being moved, also knowing that he was dying from blood loss. "God… no, no!"

John's eyes opened, the normally gorgeous blue now dull and filmed over. "Jaden?" He whispered, wincing with pain. "I had to- had to warn you."

"Quiet and let me think!" She whispered furiously. "Just quiet…. You'll be all right."

John was chuckling softly to himself. "The people in town… they're coming… tomorrow morning to kill you all." He actually managed a harsh laugh. "And to think I didn't believe them when they tried telling me what… what you are."

"John, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen." Jaden cried, staring down at him.

John shrugged nonchalantly, though it obviously took a great deal of effort. "At least I get to die with a beautiful woman holding me."

"How can you joke at a time like this?"

"For the same reason you're so serious."

Jaden was frightened.

***

"Did you hear that?" Mark asked, starting to stand up.

Isis grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. "I didn't hear anything'," She whispered, a seductive smile on her face. "How bout you join me in here?"

Mark didn't need a second invitation.

Jaden could only watch as the life quite literally drained from John, unable to tear her eyes away. Finally she gnashed her teeth across her wrist and made a gaping wound, lowering it to his mouth. "Drink." She breathed.

John stared at her like she was out of her mind.

"Unless you want to die…" Jaden started pulling away.

With surprising strength, John grabbed her arm and brought it to his mouth, drinking deeply of her blood, his eyes widening.

Jaden hissed with pleasure, watching him while wondering if this was the smart thing to do, then quickly shoving the thought aside as it was way to late for that now. "That's enough John," She said at last, trying to pull away. "I said that's enough!" She shoved him forcefully away.

John fell back startled, gasping as his body started changing, his eyes all over the place as he struggled to take in everything at once.

Jaden rubbed her now healed wrist, staring at him. This wasn't going to go over well with Mark and Isis, not at all.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Mmm…." Isis looked up from the cold tile floor where she and Mark had ended up. "We should bathe together more often."

"I agree." Mark got to his feet, helping her up too. "Now I'm hungry."

Isis smiled wickedly. "And here I thought I'd of filled ya up."

"My dear, all you ever seem to do is rouse my… ah… appetite."

"Well let's go get you fed." Isis laughed, trailing a hand down his waist. "We still have to get outta here, remember?"

"I remember." He groaned, leading the way into their bedroom. He had just started slipping on his jeans when he froze, looking towards the door. "You smell that?"

Isis frowned, buttoning up the flannel shirt she had pulled on. "Yeah… almost smells like… no…" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "JADEN!"

Jaden winced when she heard Isis' voice bellow throughout the cabin and outside as well judging from the snow that fell from several nearby trees. "Oh lord…"

John, having just completed his first kill, stared at her. "What was that?"

"Remember my friend?"

He nodded.

"Her."

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing?"

"Probably." Jaden spun around when Isis and Mark appeared, both looking upset to put it mildly. "Now this isn't exactly what it looks like."

"What it looks like," Isis said coldly, approaching John. "Is you made another one of us… without askin' anyone about it!"

John actually shrank back from Isis, seeing with his new eyes truly how she looked, both beautiful and terrifying at the same time, her eyes flashing angrily and fangs exposed.

Jaden got between them. "Isis, he was dying!"

Isis halted, staring at Jaden suspiciously. "What happened?"

Mark seated himself at the table, pulling Isis into his lap. "She's restrained," He told Jaden. "Go ahead."

Jaden quickly recounted what had happened, including her own shameful attack on him as well as turning him, not bothering to hide the desperation she had felt.

Isis was like stone throughout the whole story, finally just nodding. "Welcome to the family John, hope you weren't to attached to this place because we're leavin'."

"Leaving?" Jaden echoed.

Mark nodded, sighing. "Leaving, we're fixing to be attacked by those morons down in town."

"Tomorrow." John spoke up. "That's what I was up here for, to warn you all."

Isis and Mark both stared at him.

He shrugged. "I overheard some of them talking about it, they all knew what you are and had planned on coming in the morning to uh… destroy you."

"We're leaving."

Texas was great. No more snow which meant nicer clothes to wear besides the cable knit sweaters. Jaden celebrated the occasion by spending some more of Mark's money and buying her a new wardrobe, also replacing many things in Isis'.

"I don't need them." Isis had said, though she allowed Jaden to dress her up, like a great marble doll in halter tops and leather pants, most of her overalls being tossed out.

John was adapting rather well to being a vampire, surprised to find that with a big city close by they hunted humans instead of animals. At first he had been violently opposed to this until Jaden had instructed him on the type of people to go after, then he started looking at feeding as doing the general populace a favor.

It was getting him to stop feeding that was the problem. John tended to be over zealous and drank from three to four victims a night, often crushing their ribs in his dangerous bear hugs. On nights like those the four would have to literally crush the body into jelly, leaving nothing more but a dark red stain on the ground.

The nights were literally theirs again, the four roaming the streets like sleek jungle cats, something they hadn't been able to do in Montana, too few people. Nowhere was off limits to them, they took advantage of the nocturnal hours to enter churches and museums, looking at things normally viewed only in the sunlight, always careful to avoid being detected by cameras.

They hung out in the malls, cafes and bars. Jaden and Isis especially enjoyed showing John how he could still get drunk, merely by selecting the right person to feed from.

All in all, life was good.

Until…

"Hey, what the hell is that?"

Mark followed John's stare, frowning when he seen the body. "A dead person."

Isis and Jaden were out clubbing, actually tasting some of the local… nightlife. The two men had decided to just stroll around, not interested in surrounding themselves with mortals that night.

Approaching the corpse, Mark inhaled sharply while John's eyebrows raised.

The throat had been ripped out.

"What do you think did this?" John asked, crouching down and staring at the wound.

"I don't know." Mark sniffed the air cautiously, bending down trying to see if he recognized the scent.

"Another vampire maybe?"

"Maybe."

John stood up, shivering even though the cold didn't bother him too much. "Let's go find the girls."

Isis laughed as Jaden was surrounded by four guys and it seemed another one on the way, moving backwards out of the crowd, her head swimming from all the tequila one of… dance partners had ingested. She sank down into a corner booth, resting against the smooth leather, shutting her eyes against the swirling lights.

"Where's your friend?"

Isis looked up to find a woman standing in front of her. "Do I know you?" She asked in a polite but cool voice.

"No." The woman gestured to the seat next to Isis. "May I?"

Isis shrugged.

Chuckling, the woman sat down, still a head taller than Isis even sitting. "I'm Amaranta."

"Unfadin'?"

"You know your Greek." Amaranta smiled approvingly.

"Not really." Isis shrugged again.

"You're very beautiful, do you know that?"

Isis found herself staring at this strange woman now, taking in the long blonde hair that hung loose and Amaranta's pale, luminescent skin.

Amaranta leaned closer, allowing Isis to look into her eyes.

Isis could have became lost in those purple orbs. She wasn't all that surprised to find specks of gold in them, nothing about this woman would really surprise her it seemed.

"How young you are Isis…" Amaranta breathed.

Isis pulled away. "How do you know me?" She demanded, struggling to reclaim herself, to pull herself out of the web this woman had cast upon her.

Amaranta smiled secretively.

"Who are you?" Isis whispered.

"I told you."

"You told me your name."

Amaranta leaned forward so her mouth was besides Isis' ear. "One who knew Gabriel and Damia."

Isis jerked as if physically struck.

"Yes, my young one, I know you. I know about your mate and your even younger companions."

Isis went to stand up but found she was being held in place, glancing down to see Amaranta's hands on her arms. "What do you want?" She demanded.

Jaden finally excused herself from her male admirers, laughing as they tried to extract promises that she'd come back. When she had cleared the dance floor, she looked around for Isis, frowning when she seen her sitting in a corner with some woman she did not recognize.

She quickly made her way over to the two, standing behind Isis and smiling icily. "Hello. Isis, going to introduce me to your friend?" She asked, not bothering to mask the coldness in her tone.

Amaranta smiled just as coldly back. "You must be Jaden…"

"Funny, I have no clue who the hell you are. Care to enlighten me?"

"One day perhaps…" Amaranta stood up. "Pleasure meeting you Isis."

Isis rose as well. "I'm sure it was."

Ignoring Isis' tone, Amaranta moved forward to embrace the young woman. "We'll meet again, I'm sure of it."

"Not if I can help it." Isis whispered.

Jaden watched wide eyed as the strange woman kissed Isis' cheek lingeringly before disappearing into the crowd. "Who the hell was that?"

"I have no clue."

"She seemed to know you pretty well."

"Too damn well, let's get the hell outta here."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Jaden was frowning when they left the club, practically walking into John and Mark.

"What's wrong?" Mark demanded instantly.

Isis tiredly recounted her visit with Amaranta.

"Maybe she's the one who…" John said thoughtfully.

"Who what?" Jaden asked curiously, linking her arm with his.

"Someone ripped the throat out of a guy back a couple alleyways." Mark said slowly. "Think it could be this Amaranta?"

"I don't think so," Isis said slowly, her voice musing as they started walking down the street. "She seems more the type to hide her kills… I could be wrong though."

"You were about Glen." Jaden said coldly.

Isis studied Jaden thoughtfully then smiled suddenly. "Aww darlin', don't worry, you're still mah favorite wench." She smiled, hugging her friend, sensing the motivating factor behind Jaden's words.

Jaden started laughing.

Once back at the ranch, they all settled around the fireplace. John and Jaden sat on the floor, Jaden reclining in his arms while he rested his head on top of hers. She was thinking that she might be falling in love again, not sure how she felt about that.

She didn't want to be hurt like she had been with Jeff, she wasn't sure if she could take the heartbreak again. So far they hadn't even made love though they were sharing a bed, that was almost driving her crazy. John was too damn attractive for his own good! Just laying next to him every night, listening to him breathe was a turn on for her.

As if sensing what she was thinking, John gently kissed her throat.

Jaden shivered.

Isis and Mark were sitting on the couch together, Isis on his lap with his arms around her waist. They were speaking to each other about the night's events, just not aloud.

[Think this has anything to do with Glen and Shannon?] Mark asked.

[No, she mentioned that she knew Gabriel and Grams.] Isis sighed, resting her head against his chest. [If only it were that simple eh?]

Mark started chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Jaden looked over at them.

"I was thinking about Glen and Shannon."

"Who are they?" John asked, looking back and forth between them all, smiling curiously as they all began laughing.

"Old friends." Isis chuckled, her eyes darkening.

"Where are they now?"

"Dead."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say they didn't care too much for us." Jaden laughed, remembering the look on Shannon's face when she had killed her.

"Come on, tell me." John urged, his breath hot on her neck.

Jaden shivered.

Amaranta stared at the ranch, knowing they were all inside. She smiled as she called up a mental image of Isis, then of Jaden. She knew the tall man was Isis' mate while Jaden her blood sister and the newest, youngest of them all was a friend.

She pulled the hood of her black cape up, glancing one more time at the ranch before slipping into the darkness.

"Oh god, if you could have seen her!" Jaden gasped, blood tears coming to her eyes. "All red, like she was Glen's personal cheerleader… red hair, nails, make-up, her clothes… This woman had no sense of fashion at all."

"Remember when you punched her?" Isis asked, laughing so hard now she was also crying. "The look on her face!"

Mark was smiling, listening to them patiently. "Shannon was perfect for Glen, just as crazy as he was."

John smiled, chuckling softly. "I'm glad I wasn't around for that, sounds like they were a bunch of trouble."

"That they were," Isis agreed, nodding. "More trouble then we would have guessed at the time. Glen was crazier than a loon and Shannon was jus' as bad, if not worse because she was crazy to start with from the sounds of it."

"So you killed this psycho woman?" John asked Jaden.

Jaden nodded, recalling the incident. "She was trying to kill me and would've succeeded I think, if not for the fact that she royally pissed me off."

"Remind me to never piss you off." John looked over at Mark. "So what happened to Glen?"

Isis' face went completely blank, all the lines in her face smoothing out until she looked like polished marble.

Mark cleared his throat. "Isis killed him."

John didn't pursue that.

"You all right?"

Isis looked up from the vanity she had been sitting at, brushing her hair out. "Yeah darlin', I'm fine, why?"

He gave her a pointed look.

"Glen? You really think I'm gonna let that bastard torment me from beyond the grave?"

"Of course not." Mark nuzzled her neck. "Ready for bed?"

"Mmm…" Isis smiled when he scooped her up into his arms. "Always."

Mark sounded like a cat purring as he laid her down on the bed, covering her body with his own.

Jaden sighed, listening as the shower ran, just envisioning John. Finally she couldn't take it any longer and stood up, pulled on her silk robe and walked over to the open bathroom door, peering in. Her mouth dropped.

The shower was a locker room style which meant no curtains, no door… no nothing.

John was standing with his back to her, his hands pressed against the wall, his head bent underneath the hot water beating down on him.

Jaden had to literally wipe away the saliva from her mouth as her gaze slowly moved down his body, taking in every inch.

Her eyes moved up his muscular calves, while her mind was mentally running a hand over them, imagining how they must feel. Slowly her stare went higher, finally resting on his ass. God how she'd of loved to take a bite out of that! The water ran down his back, then down his… Jaden shivered again, knowing if she didn't do something about this serious sexual attraction she was going to explode.

The way the water ran down his back, and what a sexy back he had, was more erotic than seeing him naked. It brought to mind a roaring fire and a bowl of ice cubes.

Jaden looked up startled when she heard a throat clear, blushing as much as possible with her limited blood supply when she found John staring at her, his face completely devoid of any emotion.

After a full minute, John said: "You going to stare all night or join me?"

Isis stared up at Mark, running her hands down his shoulders and onto his chest, lightly pinching his nipples which caused him to hiss.

"Woman!" He growled, grabbing her hands in one of his, pinning them over her head.

"What's the matter darlin?" Isis asked playfully, arching against him.

His eyes narrowed until they were nothing but emerald slits.

Isis just smiled innocently, shrieking when he lunged, sinking his fangs into her throat while at the same time sliding into her.

Pure ecstasy.

Jaden didn't hesitate, practically tossing herself into John's arms, sighing when he leaned down to kiss her.

The kiss was everything she thought it would be and damn near melted her.

John chuckled, quickly ripping away her robe and nightgown before picking her up and turning, pressing her against the shower wall.

Jaden gasped as he kissed her throat, shutting her eyes against the water the beat down on them. Her gasps turned to moans when she felt him began her legs. "Don't tease me John!" She whispered harshly.

John smiled, not disappointing her.

Isis and Mark were up the next night before Jaden and John, both dressed and out on the streets.

They were hunting.

"What are you hungry for?" Mark asked, lacing his fingers with hers.

"Hmm…" Isis looked at the mortals passing them by. "I don't know… Italian maybe."

"Italian, maybe?" Mark arched a red eyebrow. "What's the maybe for?"

"Cause I'm not sure, I'm kinda cravin collar greens and fried chicken, with some corn bread and sweet taters."

"Woman, sometimes I forget how country you can be."

"You weren't complain' bout my country ways last night." She teased, running her hand lightly across his ass.

"You'll never hear me do so either." Mark laughed, catching her hand. "Quit it before you make me embarrass the both of us."

Isis started giggling, looking around. "There's an alleyway we could disappear in…" She whispered suggestively.

Mark actually thought about it.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Jaden woke up to the sight of John standing at the window naked, not even a sheet wrapped around him. Smiling she propped herself on her elbow and stared at him, not bothering to disguise the lust in her eyes. "Why don't you come back to bed?" She whispered huskily.

John didn't even glance at her. "Someone's out there." He said.

"Someone?" Jaden quickly stood up, wrapping a sheet around her.

"Or something."

"Something?" She stood behind him at the window, peering out. Her keen eyes quickly spotted what John had been staring at and she instantly knew something was wrong. "That's… that's not a person." She whispered, as if it might hear them. "It's a…." She hesitated, the idea sounding quite ludicrous to her.

"What? What is it?" John demanded, not taking his eyes off the shadowed spot the thing stood in.

Jaden quickly filled him in on her thoughts.

"Why not?" John asked simply. "We exist don't we?"

That wasn't all that comforting.

Isis had to bite her lips to prevent a moan escaping and alerting the passing people to what was going on down the alley. She clasped her hands around Mark's neck, gasping when he slammed her back into the wall, smiling slightly.

Mark's green eyes were glowing in the darkness, almost illuminating his already luminescent face.

She tilted her head back against the brick wall, on the verge of ecstasy when out of nowhere something attacked them.

Mark grunted as he was tackled to the ground, shoving whatever it was off of him and righting himself, which included fastening his jeans up, beyond pissed.

Isis had caught herself before falling, grateful she was immortal or else the sudden… movement… could have seriously hurt. She stared at Mark and the… no way…

"Isis!" Mark yelled, trying to avoid getting his throat slashed open. "Get the hell out of here!"

Of course she ignored him.

"We have to find Mark and Isis." Jaden said calmly after the thing had left and they had done a thorough search of the house. "They've got to know what's running loose out there."

"That could've been what ripped the throat out of the guy last night." John was thoughtful, pulling on a pair of jeans and a jersey. "That would explain why the kill wasn't covered up…"

"Isis was right, that Amaranta is too smart to leave something like that lying about."

They quickly dressed and left, locking the house behind them though it felt like a futile gesture.

After a quick look about to make sure nothing else that goes bump in the night was around, Jaden and John hurried towards the city, both trying to pick up Mark and Isis' familiar scents.

It didn't take too long and somehow what they found didn't really surprise them.

"Block the alley!" Isis screamed at them, jumping on the Werewolf's back.

Jaden and John did as they were told, exerting all of their considerable charm to get the people to ignore what was happening.

It was rather hard from them, hearing snarling and grunts of pain, wishing they could tell who was getting the upper hand.

"Don't think vampires can get turned into werewolves do you?" John asked worriedly.

"I have no clue."

Isis grunted in pain when she was thrown to the ground, looking up to find Mark's face covered in slashes that weren't healing like they should. She began panicking when she found that they weren't healing like they should've been. "Mark?"

"Get the hell out of here Isis!"

Isis ignored him, like usual, and leaped onto the wolf's back, wrapping her arms around the things neck, trying to snap it.

Instead the thing flipped her, sending both her and Mark toppling to the ground.

"Shit." Mark cursed, feeling his face. "That fucking stings."

"It's still not healing." Isis said, quickly getting to her feet. "My turn." Snarling, fangs bared and eyes flashing red, she lunged.

The werewolf wasn't used to this tactic and retreated a step or two.

"C'mon ya sonofabitch!" She roared, jumping forward, hands curled into claws, swiping out with her dagger sharp nails.

The werewolf howled in pain when she reached flesh past all the hair, whimpering slightly before snarling angrily and beginning to advance.

Isis was revolted by the smell of this things blood and was tempted to wipe her hands off on her pants but knew better than to lower her defenses. When the werewolf bared it's teeth at her, she bared her own fangs right back.

"Isis!" Mark yelled. "Watch out!"

Isis turned in time to see another one coming at her from seemingly nowhere, only to see Mark tackle the thing to the side.

Jaden and John could ignore the situation no longer and turned to help their friends.

"Oh snap!" Jaden gasped when she seen yet another coming. "We've gotta run!"

John was in total agreement and moved to help Mark, who the wolves seemed to be targeting, except the one Isis had pissed off.

Isis seen the three and joined them. "Let's bolt."

"Two steps ahead of you." Jaden replied.

Soon they were nothing more than four blurs.

When they finally stopped, it was in a new city, merely thirty minutes later.

"Shit, you're bleedin' all over." Isis said, surveying Mark and pulling her ever present bandana out of her back pocket. "Why ain't it healing?"

Jaden walked over to a nearby vending machine and rifled through her pockets. Finding no change she looked around, making sure nobody was near.

"Hey, I got…" John began, only to stop when she punched it. "Change."

Jaden smiled innocently at him, bending down to select a bottle of water from the pile of sodas and teas on the ground, wading out of them to hand the bottle to Isis.

Isis nodded her thanks, opening it and pouring it on the slashes, gently mopping up the excess water and blood with her rag.

Now the gashes were more visible, the flesh gaping obscenely.

"That actually hurts." Mark said, gingerly touching it.

"Here." Isis bit her finger and held it over the wounds, letting her blood drop into them. She smiled in relief when they began to heal. "I wonder why they didn't heal with your blood though?"

"Because the werewolf venom attacks the bloodstream first."

They all spun around to find Amaranta watching them.

"You!" Jaden spat, curling her hands into fists. "What the hell do you know about them?"

Amaranta smiled at Jaden as if she found the much younger woman amusing. "I know that this pack of theirs is getting bigger, which is why I'm here. I deal with these rogues everywhere I go, sometimes tracking them down. In my opinion, there isn't enough room in this world for vampires and our rogue cousins."

"Rogue cousins?" John echoed weakly, not liking wear this seemed to be heading.

Amaranta looked at him now, appraising him openly, apparently liking what she saw because her smile become a bit more seductive and her voice lower. "What did you think werewolves were? What movies portray them to be?"

"Thought had crossed my mind, yeah." He replied calmly, biting back a grin when Jaden possessively wrapped an arm around his waist.

"You're wrong then young one." Amaranta laughed, her voice like warm honey. "Werewolves are vampires gone wrong."

"Huh?" The four echoed together, all sounding incredulous.

"Let's go somewhere warm and I'll explain it."


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

They soon found themselves sitting in a hotel room, a rather posh hotel room. Obviously immortality did nothing to diminish this woman's sense of taste. Amaranta was lounging on a chaise while the other four occupied two couches, all sitting on the edge of their seats, not as relaxed as Amaranta was.

"So tell us about these werewolves." John finally spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Amaranta smiled at him, once again seeming to appraise him. "Tell me Jaden, did you choose him for his good looks?"

Jaden bristled.

"No… I see now, out of love…"

"Come on Am, get to the story." Isis said, shooting a warning glance at Jaden, who looked like she was about to spring and rip someone a new hole.

Amaranta blinked in surprise at the shortening of her name but did. "Generally, a vampire is made by draining a mortal's body dry of blood and then the vampire replenishing it with their own blood. A vampire's blood restores and perfects the mortal, turning the mortal into something entirely new. Vampires," She said slowly, looking at each of them in turn. "Are not dead things, look at us as a type of mutation if you will. We function as human beings, needing to be sustained, which only live blood will do. If you've ever tried to eat normal food, you'll know this already, opur bodies simply cannot handle it and we will become violently sick."

They all nodded though John coughed, having tried to eat a hamburger on his second night.

"Everything on us becomes improved; our senses, we heal rapidly and almost nothing can hurt or kill us. Though there are ways, obviously…"Her gaze strayed first to Isis, then Mark and finally Jaden. "But you three know that."

John, having heard the story, remained silent, just waiting patiently, leaning back against the couch and pulling Jaden with him.

"Our hearts pump the blood through our bodies, our brains still send signals…" Amaranta halted when she seen Isis frown. "Yes?"

"I can never feel my heart."

"It's there nonetheless. As I was saying, our brains still send signals. And we all develop new abilities, some sooner than others."

Mark and Isis exchanged looks.

"Obviously, the stronger the one who made you, the stronger you will be. Like Isis, she was made by Gabriel, who was older than even I am."

"How old are you?" Mark interrupted curiously.

"A lady never tells."

"Oil of Olay does wonders, can't even see her wrinkles… much." Jaden whispered to Isis.

Isis snorted.

"Anyway," Amaranta shot Jaden a dirty look, her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Sometimes, a person's body doesn't accept the blood, their body rejects it." She stood up, walking over to the window and staring out at the city down below her. "In every human, there is dormant animal DNA, when a mortal rejects the vampire's blood, the body activates this animal DNA, like it does our white blood cells. Only this triggers another type of mutation in which the end result is a werewolf instead of a vampire."

"So basically all the werewolf myths we can discard." Mark said thoughtfully, rubbing his goatee.

"Yes. Silver bullets do not work, they can come out every night and not just the ones where a full moon is present. Werewolves are every bit like us, except they are one hundred percent animal. They sleep during the day, sunlight will kill them, like us and they roam in packs. Which generally, we don't."

"Wait a minute," Isis said frowning. "I wasn't made like the rest of these guys," She gestured to her companions. "I just became."

"You were made over time, an routine exchange of blood, with Gabriel I'm assuming. You're body adapted over time until eventually there was enough vampire blood in you to start the change. If I recall rightly, you probably had to feed to finalize it."

Isis nodded, shooting Mark a look because she and Glen had jumped on him like he was a three course dinner.

Mark grinned back.

"So what do you think about what the old hag said?" Jaden asked Isis as they walked home, not minding that it was a seriously long walk.

"I don't know, the werewolf thing is kind of freaky, makes ya want to steer clear of mortals, just incase."

"Not me, I'm still hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"I know."

Mark and John were walking ahead of the girls, both on the look out for more werewolves.

Amaranta had told them before they left that the werewolves would seek them instinctively, looking to kill them. After arming them with all the information she thought they would need, she had left, seeking new hunting grounds though reassuring the four that they would someday meet again.

Not exactly a comforting thought.

"So what now?" Jaden asked once they had reached the ranch, all having fed on the way.

"I think we rest, rise as soon as sun sets and hunt these fuckers down." John said instantly.

Mark looked at him, nodding. "I agree. We need to mark this as our territory, that and I personally don't want a bunch of giant dogs running around scaring the populace, that'd blow our cover too."

"Can you imagine if the mortals knew bout us?" Isis shivered. "We'd be like… like lab rats."

Silence fell among them as they all thought about that one.

Finally John picked Jaden up and slung her over his shoulder. "All right then, we're off. See you in the evening." He was whistling as he carried her to their bedroom.

Isis shook her head. "Kids."

Mark took her hand and led her towards their own room. "I think he has the right idea."

"How can you think of sex after what happened tonight?"

"Very easily darlin."

Isis screamed with laughter when he practically dragged her into the room.

"Mmm…" John surveyed the woman laying in front of him, dropping onto the bed besides her. "You look wonderful."

Jaden frowned, rolling onto her side and propping her head up on her elbow. "You don't think Amaranta is… nice looking do you?"

"She looks like marble, kinda freaky." John shivered at the mention of the strange vampire. "Why do you ask?"

"She was eyeballing you like you were candy."

"You're a jealous thing aren't you?" John laughed, moving her so she was laying flat on her back, resting his body on top of hers.

"Very." Jaden ran her hands down his bare back, loving the feel of his muscles flexing under her palms.

John smiled, pulling back to study her. "You look quite edible tonight."

Jaden returned the smile with a sultry one of her own. "So eat me then."

"How loud can you be?" Isis joked the following night, she and Jaden in the bathroom together pulling their hair back.

"I don't know, how many decibels did we reach?" Jaden replied, winking at her friend in the mirror.

"Hmm… I'd say at least a nine."

"Then I must be out of practice." Jaden stepped away and looked herself over. "Great, now we look like Buffy."

"Huh?" Isis frowned.

"You mean to tell me you never heard of Buffy the vampire slayer?"

"No."

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm a hick, remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

"How long does it take to get dressed?" John asked, glancing at the clock.

Mark shrugged, deftly braiding his hair with long, nimble fingers. "They're women."

"They've been in there for over thirty minutes! We're just going hunting, what the…" The words died on John's lips when Isis and Jaden emerged from the bathroom.

They wore matching black leather suits that zipped up the front, black boots and had coiled their long hair on top of their heads.

"You were saying?" Mark murmured, walking over to nuzzle Isis' neck.

John shook his head. "It was worth the wait. I stand corrected."

[What's he going on about?] Isis asked.

Mark grinned and shook his head. [Just guy stuff.]

"Mmm hmm…" She said aloud, giving him a skeptical look. "So we ready to go kill some wolves?"

"Yeah, but first…" Mark headed into the kitchen.

Isis and Jaden both groaned, knowing what was coming.

John, who had the luxury of feeding from something alive every night since being made, had no clue what was going on and looked slightly puzzled when Mark returned with four bottles. He took his quietly, noticing it was cold and gave Jaden a quizzical look.

Smiling innocently she gestured for him to drink it.

Isis and Mark watched, both knowing that smile only to well, both chuckling when John started sputtering, blood tricking down his chin.

"What the hell is that stuff?" He demanded, staring at the bottle suspiciously.

"Cold blood."

"Wait… it's not alive?"

"Well…" Mark drawled. "Depends on how you want to look at it, it'll keep you going for tonight so drink up."

Isis and Jaden had already finished theirs, minus the mess, both looking innocent.

"Could've warned me." John grumbled, finishing his quickly.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

After they had gathered up some… tools, mainly consisting of long daggers Mark had procured, resulting in some interrogating from Isis, they headed out.

"So where are we gonna find these things?" Isis asked as they walked down the street, heading for the city.

"I don't know, I'm guessing they'll find us. That's what John's friend said anyway." Mark replied, shooting a sly backward glance at John, smirking when he seen John blush and Jaden start growling.

[Be nice.] Isis scolded, rather loudly.

Mark winced. "Get the hell outta my head woman."

[But I like it in here.] She teased.

"Why are we going to the city if we're hunting these things?" Jaden asked suddenly. "Shouldn't we be leading them away from people?"

Mark frowned, shooting his mate a dirty look. "If someone hadn't been messing with me I would've thought of that." He grumbled, changing direction.

Isis just whistled, rolling her eyes heavenward.

They didn't get very far when a sudden howling alerted them that they were now being hunted instead of the other way around.

"Remember, they're animals." Mark whispered as the four went their separate ways. He buried himself under a loose mound of dirt, surprisingly quick for a man his size.

John opted to pick the cleaner route, placing himself in a nearby shed, peeking out the window, all but invisible except for his crystalline blue eyes.

Isis and Jaden took to the trees, preferring to have a slight height advantage, drawing their daggers and waiting.

The wait wasn't that long, in less than an twenty minutes, the werewolves appeared and this time all three of them were together. They were bigger than Jaden remembered: tall, great hulking things that were slobbering madly.

The wolves halted, raising their long snouts to the air, clearly sniffing. One moved off towards the shed John was in, moving much more gracefully then it's size suggested.

"Shit!" Jaden cursed, seeing that the creature was approaching John's blind side. She tried that mind thing Isis and Mark used but all she got was her own thoughts swirling around her head. They went something like, "You dumb ass, he's going to get killed and you're standing here with your eyes shut pretending you're Jean Grey!"

Isis eyed Jaden before guessing what she was attempting and sighed heavily. "Kids…" She muttered. [John? John, can you hear me?]

[What the…]

[You swear in my head and I'll rip yer throat out.] Isis threatened sweetly. [You've got a large mongrel comin' up from behind ya.]

[Thanks… Hey… you can't, like read my mind can you?]

Isis had to smile. [I can see some things… as time goes I get better with this, why, something in there ya not wanting me to see?]

He sent her a mental image of him and Jaden in the shower, chuckling softly when he felt Isis recoil.

"Sick bastard…" Isis hissed, ignoring the curious look Jaden shot her.

Jaden started to ask what was going on but decided better of it, focusing on the matter at hand. She readied her dagger, smirking when she seen the pair stop right over where Mark was laying.

Isis seen it too and nudged her friend.

"Ready?"

Isis nodded.

Silently they leapt from the tree, each landing on one, stabbing over and over with their daggers. From the shed they could hear John fighting the one that had snuck up on him.

"Holy shit!" Isis shouted when Mark rose, with alarming intensity, shooting out of the earth and up into the air, coming down on one of the werewolves.

Jaden joined Isis and together they took it down, getting a few slashes for their efforts but nothing to bad, just some torn up clothing.

John came bursting out of the shed, breaking down a wall with a werewolf right behind him. His face was barely recognizable underneath all the blood, and his shirt hung off him in shreds.

"John!" Jaden screamed when she seen the werewolf slash him across the back, sending John face first onto the ground, a large gaping wound on his back. She darted over to him, leaving Isis to fend for herself.

Isis was doing just fine, mostly, growing slightly pissed off when she realized she was pretty much wearing expensive leather rags. She lunged forward, slashing her dagger across the werewolf's throat, watching in mild astonishment as a sort of thick, purplish blood sprayed out of the wound. She quickly shut her eyes and mouth tight as it got her face, coating her.

Jaden was stabbing John's attacker viciously, her mouth contorted with fury. She felt gratified when she heard a howl of pain, gritting her teeth and plunging her fist into the wound she had made, a second later yanking out the werewolf's heart.

A second later the damn thing exploded.

"Oh that's just sick!" Jaden shrieked when she was able to open her eyes, spitting out blood, nasty tasting blood.

"Ouch." John moaned, slowly raising his head from the ground.

"You all right baby?" Jaden asked, dropping down besides him but not touching, not wanting to smear him with the purple coo that coated her.

"I'm in agony." He replied, trying not to move.

Jaden surveyed the wound on his back, disgusted to see tissue, nerves and even some bone. "Ugh…"

"How bad is it?"

"Well… at least it missed your ass."

Isis watched as Mark followed Jaden's example and ripped out the heart, only he moved away quickly to avoid getting splattered. "That sucked." She said, walking over to hug him, resting her face against his chest.

"Thanks, and I liked this vest." He laughed, looking down at his denim vest.

"Sorry." Isis glanced over at Jaden and John. "How is he?"

Jaden had gnashed her wrist and was dripping blood into the wound. "On the mend."

"Oh man…" John groaned, getting to his feet after the wound had slowly healed. "That was a bitch…"

"You're not kidding." Mark agreed, surveying the bodies around them.

John looked at Isis, his blue eyes crinkling in amusement. "Thanks for the heads up by the way, if you hadn't told me, I might've been wolf chow."

"Probably." She replied, narrowing her own eyes. [And if you ever, ever do that to me again, I'll kill you.]

John started laughing while Jaden and Mark looked confused.

"Me first!" Jaden laughed, darting for the shower.

She found herself struggling with Mark, John and Isis, then she heard:

[C'mon.]

Mark and John stopped struggling when they realized, they were fighting each other.

"Where'd they go?" Mark demanded, looking around.

John shrugged, taking advantage and slipping into the bathroom, shutting and bolting the door.

Mark pounded a large fist against the door once before heading to the backdoor, planning on using the hose. He halted when he found Isis and Jaden had already beaten him to it, attaching it to a sprinkler that they were darting in and out of, stripped down to nothing more than their undergarments.

"Hey, go away!" Isis shouted when she seen him, her hair now hanging down her back, soaked through. "You're supposed to be with John!"

Jaden giggled madly.

"Wenches." Mark growled, stripping down to just his jeans and joining them, sighing in pure relief as the blood washed off him.

"Hmmm… I think it's time for a little payback…" Isis murmured. [John?]

[Yes dear?]

She smirked. [I see you go the shower…]

[Of course, was there a doubt in your mind?]

[Nope, I figured you'd be where the action WASN'T.]

[Huh?]

Isis started giggling when she actually pictured him, in the middle of soaping his hair, now standing still with an expression of confusion written all over his face.

"What are you doing?" Jaden whispered, catching the look on her friend's face.

"You'll know in a minute…" Isis returned her attention to John. [You heard me handsome…] She sent him a mental picture of her and Jaden running through the sprinkler, hand in hand, Baywatch style. A slight exaggeration on her part, but…

"ISIS!"


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

Mark and Jaden stared at her when they heard John's shout, then looked towards the house as he came bursting out the back door, halting when he seen the three, his blue eyes taking in the girls and their skimpy bra and panties before narrowing in on Isis, who was grinning wickedly.

"Paybacks a bitch, ain't it boy?" She taunted.

He lunged for her.

Isis merely stepped to the side.

John halted, turning up sod in the process and spun around, trying again.

This time she ducked, letting him fly over her and landing in the wet grass flat on his back. Quickly she sat on him, utilizing her superior strength to hold him down. "Now, let's get one thing straight, no more dirty pictures, got it?"

He nodded, crossing his toes.

"Good." Isis lightly smacked his face for good measure before getting up. "He's all your Jaden."

Jaden grinned.

John was up in a flash, scooping Isis up in his arms and running towards the pool.

"Put me down!" Isis screamed.

Mark and Jaden followed, both grinning from ear to ear.

"As you wish." John laughed, dropping her in the pool.

Isis came up, spitting water. "That's sick…" She moaned.

John stood at the edge, hands on his hips. "Uh Mark?"

"Yeah." Mark stood besides him. "Nice look darlin'."

Isis looked down to find her bra was slipping down. "Thanks." She looked behind John and smirked.

Jaden grinned back, reaching out and ripped away his shorts.

Mark and Isis both turned their heads while John tried to cover himself.

"Jaden!"

Giggling, she shoved him in the pool. "That's for picking on the girls!"

Mark grabbed her up next. "Turnabout then."

Jaden shrieked as she was tossed into the water next to Isis. She came up sputtering too. "Those pricks!"

"You noticed that too huh?"

"You're damn straight." Jaden glared at the men, though she had to hide a smile at the sight of John hunched over, covering himself.

Isis shrugged, letting her bra float away before diving underwater, swimming at the bottom of the pool.

"That's just cruel." Mark murmured, his green eyes fastened on her.

Jaden was staring at John. "Come on baby, show us what ya got." She teased.

"Later." He replied, eyeballing what remained of his shorts.

"I could always loan you my panties…"

"Something tells me you look better in them."

"Too bad…" Jaden mocked stretched, her chest jutting out. "I was thinking that maybe you'd like to come for a swim with me, but now I see you're too busy protecting… your ah…"

"Nuggets?" Mark suggested.

"Marbles."

John scowled at them both before straightening up and diving into the water.

Shrieking, Jaden dived under.

Isis emerged just in time to see the two rolling at the bottom of the pool. "What'd I miss?"

"Marbles."

"Oh."

"This is boring." John groaned, tossing his hand in as Jaden raked in the chips. "Can't we play something besides poker?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but it's been a week since we killed off those werewolves and all we've done is hunted then played cards all night!"

"Getting bored are we?" Isis drawled, shuffling the deck.

"Hell yes I am!"

"So let's play something else." Mark suggested, having had enough excitement over the past three years to last him an eternity.

"Like what?" Jaden stopped counting her chips.

John leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully, finally his blue eyes lighted up. "I've got an idea, providing you're game." He said challengingly.

"Oh really?"

"Let's play strip poker."

Isis, Jaden and Mark stared at John like he had lost his head or something.

"What?" John asked, smiling cockily at them. "You all afraid? Maybe not confident enough to lose some clothing?"

Confidence, honestly, had nothing to do with it.

Mark was middle aged when turned and he had been amused to find his bpdy in perfect shape, his wrinkles gone, areas of his body that weren't as firm as they used to be were now well toned.

Jaden and Isis were both young and in perfect condition when they'd been made. Jaden's body toned from her former job as an exotic dancer and Isis from her country, farm girl upbringing.

"We're game." Isis said suddenly, interested in continuing this game of one upping she had going with John.

He grinned. "Deal the cards."

As the game progressed, John stopped smiling, his clothes beginning to disappear all to rapidly.

What he didn't know was that Isis was slipping in his head and reading his cards, then informing the other two what he had.

John los his boxers and that was the last straw. Frustrated, he tossed his cards on the table, sitting their naked save for his socks.

Mark has lost his vest, Jaden her pants and Isis her overalls.

"I guess you lose." Jaden chuckled, running an appreciative eye over John's chiseled chest.

"This game was rigged." John grumbled.

"More than you'll ever know." Mark murmured under his breath, shooting Isis a look.

She just smiled innocently.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to bed." Jaden said, glancing out the window at the approaching dawn, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah, me too." Isis agreed, picking up her overalls.

"Night Mark, night John." Jaden bent down and kissed John's cheek, winking at Mark before disappearing.

Isis snickered, pushing away from the table. "Night fellas."

Mark kissed her hand as she passed by. "I'll be up in a minute darlin'."

"Night John." Isis smiled sweetly at him.

John just grunted, still trying to figure out where the game had backfired on him.

Isis leaned down, her eyes locked with Mark's, wrapping her arms around John's neck. "Nice cards by the way." She whispered in his ear.

It took John a minute to realize what she had said. His gaze slowly moved from Mark to his cards that lay on the table. Then everything seemed to click.

Mark was already up and on his way to protect his mate.

John didn't bother with clothes, just ran after Isis, bare socks and not much more.

Mark was blocking their bedroom door.

"Come on Mark, just one minute is all I need!" John said, struggling to get past the much larger man.

Isis was giggling, having already changed into her pajamas. [Jaden, I think you're man is a lil upset with me.]

[Think so?]

[Yep.]

Jaden's laugh could be heard from down the hall.

"Isis, this ain't over." John started laughing too. "I'll get you yet."

She sent him a mental image of Mark naked.

John howled, shielding his eyes as if that would help. "No! Yuck!"

Mark shut the door in his face, not sure if he wanted to know.

Jaden was waiting on the bed when John stumbled in, his hands on the side of his head. "Please, tell her to stop." He begged, not sure if he could take much more of this.

"Done messing with her?"

"Yes!" John shouted. "Isis, not that!"

Isis'mad giggles were quite audible.

[Okay, I think he's suffered enough.]

[You sound amused.]

[I am actually, please don't ever do that to me though?]

[You know I wouldn't.]

Jaden started laughing when Isis told her what she had been doing to John, unable to stop as the blood tears rolled down her face.

John watched her crossly. "When you're done…"

Jaden stared at him, still laughing, taking in the defensive way he held himself, still in just his socks and laughed even harder.

John watched her for a few minutes before stepping back. "Um… Jaden?"

"Nice… booties!" She gasped.

"JADEN!"

"Huh?" Jaden looked down at him, doing a double take when she realized she was actually looking down at him, right before her head hit the ceiling. "Ow!" She fell to the bed.

John rushed over to check on her. "Are you all right?" He asked, sitting on the bed and gently feeling her head.

"I'm fine… nothing that hasn't healed already." She glanced up at the ceiling, frowning slightly. "Was it just me or was I levitating?"

"You were levitating."


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

"Good evening." Isis greeted the next night, walking into the kitchen already dressed and ready to go hunting.

"Morning." John and Jaden greeted, exchanging looks.

Isis halted, looking up at the ceiling corner where Jaden was sitting Indian style in the air. "Nice… when'd that happen?"

"Last night."

"Hmmm… Mark will be down soon, ya'all going into the city with us?"

"Yes!" They both shouted, neither eager to drink any more of Mark's bottled blood.

Isis grinned.

"Hey John, Hey Ja-" Mark frowned, looking around. "Where is that little trouble maker?"

"Right here." Jaden dropped down onto his shoulders, her legs hanging down his chest. "Just call me Tinkerbell cause I can fly."

"How long does it take to eat?" John asked quietly, waiting with Jaden and Mark at a corner for Isis.

"She hunts alone." Mark said, just as softly, watching the alley way she had disappeared in with sharp eyes.

Jaden leaned against a window, watching mortals walk by, some occasionally looking at the three, as if trying to figure something out only to look away, shaking their heads. She had to smile, they were so funny.

Then a specific human caught her eye. Frowning, she tried to recollect where she had seen this woman before. "John, don't we know her?"

John followed her gaze across the busy street to the woman who was standing directly under a streetlamp, staring across at the three. "Yeah… she's that woman who owns the hobby shop back in Montana." His eyes narrowed angrily. "She's one of those crazies who were going to come kill you all."

"Oh no…" Jaden whispered. "They must've followed us."

They had attracted Mark's attention by now, he was staring at the woman as well. "Well well…" He murmured.

"Think it's just her?" Jaden asked.

"Probably not."

"Um… isn't that Isis?" John's blue eyes strayed behind the woman to where Isis was walking up, right behind the shopkeeper.

Isis had recognized this woman's scent and was furious, she didn't appreciate this little zealots intruding on her family's happiness. She knew there were more then just this woman, Martha, around. "Lookin' fer me?"

Martha slowly turned around, her face going ashen. "You!" She quickly crossed herself and began praying.

"I thought we covered this already," Isis sighed, rolling her eyes. "Your god doesn't frighten me!"

Martha whimpered as Isis' hand shot out, wrapping around her thin neck, dragging her backwards into a side street, wondering why nobody thought this was strange.

"Probably cause they don't pay attention…" Isis whispered.

"You're not going to kill her are you?"

Isis looked up to find Mark, John and Jaden standing there. "Why not? She's over causin' us trouble."

"She does have a point." Jaden conceded, eyeing the woman coldly, baring her fangs when Martha started praying even louder.

Mark stepped forward, looking amused when Martha began naming different saints, calling on them for salvation. "I'm an athiest." He said almost apologetically.

"John," Martha said desperately. "You know me… you…"

"Sorry." John stepped back, holding up his hands. "I thought I knew you."

"Look what they've done to you though!" Martha cried, tears rolling down her face and off her quivering chin. "They've made you into… into one of them!"

"Yeah, so?" He shrugged.

"You're a monster!"

John's face hardened, the first true sign of anger he had ever really shown, his eyes tinting red. "A monster? Let me fill you in on a little secret, every night I'm out here doing what I do, these people are a little safer for it. The true monsters are the ones I feed off of."

"Spawn of the devil…" Martha whispered, none of his words affecting her.

"Ah hell… kill her."

"I intended on it." Isis smiled, licking her lips. "The rest of the gang is here too and them sonbitches know where we live."

"What's a vampire gotta do to get a little peace?" Jaden joked, almost taking pity on the poor mortal in front of her. Almost.

"Yea though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow Of Death…"

Isis sneered. "She's takin' the fun outta this."

Mark watched Isis quietly, seeing for the first time how cruel she actually was.

"I will fear no evil." Isis was mocking Martha, crossing herself before reaching out and pulling Martha towards her. "You ready to meet your maker?" She whispered.

"Sweet Jesus…" Martha gasped, watching as Isis' eyes turned blood red and her fangs grew even longer.

"Mmm… you the sweet right…" Isis breathed, inclining her head towards her victim.

Martha went rigid went she felt the two dagger like teeth pierce her throat, unable to say anything as she felt her life being literally sucked away. Finally she closed her eyes, going limp in her killer's arms.

Isis moaned in ecstasy, swallowing draught after draught of rich, sweet blood. She only pulled away when there was barely any left, letting Martha's body drop to the ground. After taking a moment to clear her head, she raised her foot and brought it down on the dead woman's neck, crushing it.

She turned to find Jaden watching with raised eyebrows, John looking mildly alarmed and Mark, Mark was blank faced. She tried to read his mind only to find a wall. Her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"That was… a bit much, don't you think?" Jaden asked slowly.

Isis shrugged, looking at the corpse. "Not really, she deserved it."

Isis was all for hunting down the rest of the zealots that very night, preferring to clear out the city as soon as possible.

Jaden agreed, looking forward to some open sky flying. John was game as well, thinking this would be a good way to end his boredom streak. Mark remained silent on the whole issue though he followed when they began the hunt.

"All right, I'm off. Isis, you can keep me in touch." Jaden said, concentrating for a moment before disappearing in the night sky.

[Keep away from airplanes if you please.]

[Of course, I prefer not to be a bug on somebody's windshield it it's all the same.]

"Jaden's good," Isis announced, looking at the guys. "We ready to go hunting?"

"Hell yeah." John grinned, looking rather feral.

Mark just nodded.

Isis frowned slightly, having noticed his sudden quietness but shrugged it off, instead gearing herself up. She realized this was the sort of thing she had been needing for awhile. A good hunt.

[So where the hell am I looking?]

Isis winced at the volume. [Tone it down girl, I ain't deaf… yet.]

[Sorry, wind is rushing by and it's hard for me to hear my own thoughts.]

[Head south, I'll let you know when I can hear them…]

[All right…]

Isis was silent as she led the way, occasionally getting a brief message from Jaden, normally along the lines of 'flying is so fucking cool!', which made her slightly jealous, but… She grinned, sending a mental of John walking in front of her, making sure Jaden got a nice view of his ass.

[Don't be all up on my man now woman!]

Isis started laughing. [Just thought I'd let ya know what yer missing.]

[Hmm… you have no idea.]

It was another ten or twenty minutes before Isis halted, gazing up at some cheap motel. "This is the place." She murmured, quickly relaying the location to Jaden.

Jaden grinned, turning around and heading back towards the motel. She loved this new… mutation… for lack of better term, that and saying power would be like calling herself an X-Men or something. She loved the feel of the wind in her hair, though it did sting her eyes somewhat.

Though when she seen what was coming at her, she changed her mind about flying altogether.

"HOLY SHIT!"


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

Coming at Jaden was exactly what she had been warned about: an airplane.

She dived, managing to miss it but the drag caught her, sending her spiraling out of control.

Screaming, Jaden fought to regain her bearings, her panic increasing tenfold when she discovered a skyscraper coming up rapidly.

The sound of her body hitting the steel and glass building she would later liken to the sound of dropping a piece of liver on a linoleum floor.

Amplified by ten.

It took five minutes of just breathing for Jaden to realize she wasn't dead. Add another ten minutes and she was ready to peel herself off the building.

"Where's Jaden?" John demanded, both impatient and worried when she hadn't shown up.

Isis frowned. [Tink, where ya at?]

[Oh… just straightening myself out.] Jaden replied, trying to untangle her legs without having to break them again.

[John is freaking out down here.]

[Tell him I'm on my way, just give me… ten minutes.] Jaden winced as she snapped her left leg. [Go in without me, I'll catch up.]

"She said to start, she'll meet up with us in ten." Isis said aloud.

"All right, let's get this party started." John rubbed his hands together. "Ready Mark?"

"You two go on ahead, I'll wait here for Jaden, just incase."

Isis and John, both looking more demonic by the second, headed inside.

"This way." Isis murmured, her voice to low for mortals to hear, leading the way up a flight of stairs.

John's blue eyes gleamed in anticipation when Isis halted in front of a door. "Well?"

"They're all awake wondering where Martha has gotten off too."

"Poor Martha…" John grinned, revealing his canines. "Shall we go enlighten them?"

"Lets."

Jaden alighted in front of Mark, twenty minutes later, healing taking longer than she had thought. "What're you doing?"

"Waiting for you." He said solemnly.

"Putting off seeing Isis in her 'let's pretend I'm Glenn' mode?" Jaden asked shrewdly.

He nodded.

"Let's go take inventory then."

When Mark and Jaden reached the motel room, they were horrified by what they saw.

There were seven bodies in the room, not counting John and Isis. Two people were alive yet, totally silent, blank faced. Apparently they were in shock or mad from what they had seen.

Scattered about the room were body parts, viciously ripped from the torso, withered looking as if having been sucked dry. Which, from the looks of John and Isis, they had been.

John and Isis were coated in blood, their faces smeared with it, their heads bent over as they each fed off an older man, an old man who was still alive, though he wasn't speaking, he was making odd noises. His discarded tongue lay a few feet away, obviously having been ripped out.

"Help us."

Jaden's head spun towards the two that were left, frowning when she seen a small slip of a woman crawling towards her, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Help us please…" The woman gasped, reaching a trembling hand towards Jaden. "Please…"

Jaden started reaching towards the woman only to jerk back when John lunged forward, grabbing the woman by her short blonde hair and yanking her back.

John started laughing when he yanked her scalp clean off, wrapping an arm around the woman's waist and holding her to him while he licked the blood off her head.

Jaden shrank back by Mark, unable to tear her eyes away from the man she loved, hardly believing this monster was the same person.

"Mmmm…" John moaned, his eyes closed, tongue darting out like a cat's.

Isis was completely gone as well, her eyes nothing but red, you couldn't even see the iris' anymore. She snatched up the final person, another woman and ripped into her throat viciously, swallowing her victims screams as her hand groped around the woman's chest before plunging into, ribs bones cracking, the sound was sickening. Isis removed the heart, holding in front of the woman's face to let her glimpse it still beating before crushing it in her fist.

"I can't watch this." Jaden murmured, shoving past Mark and rushing out the door, fairly certain she was going to start heaving out her own organs any second.

Mark remained where he was, watching as the two finished their feasting, idly picking through the bodies and dismembering them, purely for entertainment it seemed.

When John and Isis finally collapsed ontop of the bodies, sated, he cleared his throat.

They both looked up, their eyes slowly changing back to their normal colors.

"What took you so long babe?" Isis asked, licking the blood off her fingers, shifting into a more comfortable postion, seemingly not bothered at all by the sounds of bones breaking underneath her.

"Where's Jaden?" John looked around as if she were hiding somewhere.

"She left." Mark said slowly, stepping back towards the door.

Isis frowned. "What's wrong darlin'? Are you mad cause we didn't save you any?" Her eyebrows drew together.

Mark shook his head, honestly having a hard time believing that she thought he was mad over not getting to join this… bloodbath. "You two behaved like monsters tonight." He stated, his voice dropping down to a low, deadly tone. "You could have just killed them quickly with mercy, instead you proved they were right about us, that we are evil."

"You're angry because we enjoyed ourselves?" She stood up. "Mark, maybe you haven't noticed, but bein' vicious is in our nature, are we any less cruel to the evildoers we feast on?"

"You know it's not the same as this slaughter. Those people truly deserved to die, these were mere zealots… doing what they thought right. Mercy should have been shown tonight."

Isis hissed at him.

John was just glaring at Mark, not caring much for the lecture.

Mark shook his head, stepping out of the room, his parting words floating back to them: "You resemble Glen more and more each day… Stay away…"

Jaden was waiting in front of the motel when Mark appeared, she looked at him, her pale face even more whiter, if it were possible. "Well?"

"Come on," He gently took her arm. "Let's get out of here."

She nodded, letting him lead her away. "What made them like that Mark? That's not Isis or John."

"I know… but look what happened to Glen, they could be going mad, just like him."

Jaden almost crumpled right then and there but he held her up. "No…"

"It's… possible." His voice was strained, heart breaking over the thought of losing his love to the madness that had condemned Glen.

"It is more than possible."

They looked up to find Amaranta standing in front of them, a sorrowful expression on her face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Mark demanded angrily.

"I came to find you… to warn you about these people… but it seems you found out before I could caution." Amaranta's rich voice throbbed with emotion.

Jaden was half listening, peering behind Amaranta in the shadows, something or someone was standing there.

"They… decimated those people." Mark admitted. "What they did… it was savage…"

"Madness strikes those who are young," Amaranta said softly, hesitantly laying a hand on Mark's shoulder. "Sometimes it passes, sometimes it doesn't. Most often, those who go mad must be destroyed, for their own sake as well as ours."

"I'm not killing Isis." Mark said firmly, moving away from her.

"Or John." Jaden added. "It could pass."

"It could." Amaranta gestured her companion forward. "We're leaving tomorrow evening for New York, you both are more than welcome to travel with us."

Mark nodded, his emerald eyes straying to the man besides her.

"Oh… this is Batista," Amaranta gestured at him dismissively. "He often travels with me."

Batista inclined his head towards Mark before offering a small smile to Jaden.

Jaden felt a reluctant pull towards him, quickly taking in his dark hair and dark eyes, her gaze traveling over his silk shirt and dress pants. When she looked back up she found the slightest hint of amusement on those sensuous lips and quickly looked away, angry for this man being here when her heart was breaking over John.

***

Isis and John slowly made their way home, neither feeling any regret for the things they had done, infact they were both pretty pissed off with Mark and Jaden for the way they had reacted. When they got inside, Mark and Jaden were in the kitchen, siting at the table with an atlas opened before them.

"What're you doin'?" Isis demanded, her hands on her hips.

Mark was staring at them, hardly believing that they hadn't taken the time to clean themselves, instead they still looked like they had just got done bathing in blood. "We're leaving." He said softly, hoping against hope that she would say or do just one thing that would prove she was still the Isis he loved.

John was glaring at Jaden. "You're leaving me? With him?"

"John, this isn't you." Jaden began, drawing in a shaky breath. "You've never acted like this before, ever. What's come over you?"

"I was just having a bit of fun." He shrugged. "They deserved it, or did you forget that they came here to kill us?"

"I didn't forget John, but there was no need to be that cruel."

He rolled his eyes.

Isis was still staring at Mark. "So this is what it comes down too? Yer leavin' me fer enjoyin' mahself? Fer bein' what I am?" Her accent began thickening with her anger. "Yer gonna run off with another woman cause you got a moral streak? Yer a vampire Mark! Yeh better get used to that idea right quick cause there ain't no goin' back!"

"Have you listened to yourself at all tonight Isis?" Mark demanded, rising from the table. "You sound just like Glen did!"

"Mebbe he had the right idea."

"You don't mean that."

Isis sneered at him, her cold gaze moving onto Jaden. "What's it matter? Yer sittin' hear makin' plans to leave me… with mah best friend I might add."

Jaden shook her head. "Isis, it's not like that…"

"The hell it's not!" John interrupted. "Look at you, you're already dressed for traveling! What, you were going to leave without saying a word to me?"

"John, listen to me baby…" Jaden hesitated, seeing the way his eyes were glazed over. "Nevermind, it's pointless… you're both mad."

"I keep hearin' that." Isis spat, folding her arms across her chest and looking at John. "You've heard this story a'fore, Glen went nuts and we hacked him and his psycho bitch girlfriend's asses up… Looks like we're next."

"Now Isis, we never said that." Mark said firmly, trying not to let his temper get the better of him.

"Ain't that how it goes?" Isis shot back. "If a vampire goes mad it should be knocked off immediately, not only for itself but for other vamps as well?"

Mark and Jaden both blanched, practically having Amaranta's words thrown back at them.

"We're leaving, and we're leaving you two in peace," Mark finally said, looking defeated. "All we ask is that you do the same for us, let us go."

Isis and John stepped away from the kitchen go, both looking blank faced though their eyes were full of barely suppressed rage.

Jaden stared at John, her heart in her eyes, tears of blood rolling down her pale cheeks. "John…" She whispered.

He ignored her, pointedly looking at her already packed duffel bag.

"Ya know what John?" Isis faced him, a wicked smile on her face. "I coulda sworn I seen a group of kids down the street, how bout we go introduce?"

John nodded, shooting one last icy stare at Mark before following.

Jaden crumpled.


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: John and Batista aren't wrestlers because when I wrote the first one, they weren't even on the scene at the time. Then as I went, I started drawing the story more away from the wrestling aspect of it until it eventually became an AU._

**CHAPTER 13**

Mark followed the directions Amaranta had given him, finally halting in front of yet another posh hotel room door. "Should we?" He asked, looking down at Jaden.

She shrugged, her eyes red from crying. "I guess, if John and Isis really have lost it, they might… might come after us." She had to bite back the sobs once more. "Mark… they…" She broke off, turning away from him.

Mark gently turned her back, bending down to look into her eyes. "Everything will be fine Jaden… this'll pass." He assured her, though secretly he doubted that, there was just something way to wrong with the whole madness scenario.

"Come on, before we lose our nerve." Jaden braced herself and knocked on the door loudly.

It was opened almost instantly by the vampire they had met, Batista, he was dressed in only a pair of black silk pajama bottoms, looking like he was getting ready to sleep though he showed no surprise at them being there. "Come in." He said gravely, moving away to open the door wider.

Jaden and Mark exchanged looks before stepping across the threshhold.

Jaden woke up to the sound of lows voices. She opened her eyes, for a moment thinking John would be there to greet her. It wasn't John who was leaning over her though.

It was Mark, his green eyes filled with concern. "Are you all right?"

Jaden nodded, sitting up slowly as she gathered her bearings. "Yeah, just thought it might all have been a dream."

"No dream, come look at the television."

Reluctantly she followed him out of the bedroom and into the main room where Amaranta and Batista were standing in front of a television that took up an entire wall, both blank faced.

A reporter was speaking to some people, all of them in tears. Behind them was the motel the zealots from Montana had been staying in, bodies being carted out. The scene changed to a street corner, which had been taped off.

Jaden had to glance away, already knowing what was coming. She walked out onto the balcony, staring down at the traffic and people that went on with their lives, wondering if this was all immortality was, lonliness and madness.

"Are you all right miss?"

Jaden didn't bother turning around, feeling her stomach give that familiar lurch at the sound of Batista's concerned voice. "I will be."

"This madness…" His tone was gentle, delicate even. "It could pass."

"What if it doesn't?" She whispered, her hands gripping the railing tightly.

Batista's large hands curved over her shoulders, holding her firmly and tenderly all at once. "You have time on your side Beautiful One," He murmured, his mouth mere inches from her ear. "Enough time even, to mend a broken heart."

Mark watched Jaden and Batista from inside, well aware of Amaranta staring at him, Sighing heavily he turned to her. "What?"

"You're a blunt person Mark," She said softly. "Were you that way when you were mortal?"

"I've never been one to beat around the bush." He admitted gruffly.

"That's an admirable trait."

Mark stepped away from her, avoiding her purple eyes, not sure if he really wanted to see what he would find in them. "When do we leave?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Soon, I've already sent for my car."

"Car?" He echoed.

Amaranta laughed, a silverly, tinkling sound. "I'm mortal enough to love my little luxuries."

John thundered down the stairs to find Isis sitting on the couch, sharpening her dagger with a whet stone. "You look cheerful." He greeted.

She smiled coldly at him. "They didn't come back."

"I noticed." He dropped down in a chair, studying her thoughtfully. She was already dressed and ready to go out, trading in her country girl clothes for a pair of black leather pants and a black tank top, black fingerless lace gloves on her hands, her long nails also painted black. "Nice look."

"Better than yours." She retorted, staring pointedly at him.

"What?" John looked down at his jeans and jersery.

"Let's go shopping." Isis said suddenly, standing up and tossing her dagger aside.

Jaden watched out the tinted windows as the city quickly disappeared, finally looking at the her traveling companions.

Amaranta was sitting across from her, one leg crossed over the over, looking quite stunning a silver gown that slit up to her thighs. Mark sat besides Amaranta, though as far away from her on the seat as possible, staring out the window himself. Batista sat on the same seat as Jaden, at a respectful distance though he kept glancing over at her, his face that of a concerned gentleman's.

"Are you all right?" He asked for the second time that evening.

Jaden nodded, aware that Amaranta was now studying them.

"You'll find Batista a most… amicable companion." Amaranta chuckled.

"You look so much better." Isis commented, staring at John.

He studied himself in the many mirrors, turning every which way. "It'll do." He admitted.

She had clothed him in black leather pants and a white beater, swapping out his usual heavy gold chains for a sleek, silver anhk.

"Will that be cash, check or credit card?" The salesperson who had been waiting on them asked, holding John's cast off clothes.

Isis and John exchanged knowing looks, both beginning to grin.

"Neither…" Isis murmured.

"How do you like your room?"

Jaden looked up from the clothes she'd been sorting through to find Batista leaning in the open doorway of the bedroom she'd been given at Amaranta's New York home. "It's lovely." She stepped away from the wardrobe, pulling a royal purple silk sheath gown out. "Is this all right?"

"Anything will be fine." He smiled reassuringly at her. "You'll be among friends here Beautiful One, others of our kind."

Jaden returned the smile, swallowing hard. Others of their kind… Upon arriving in New York, Amaranta had immediately sent out invitations to every vampire she knew, inviting them to a midnight ball, in honor of Mark and Jaden's arrival. Jaden couldn't understand why Amaranta would go through so much trouble for them but she didn't dwell on it too much, unable to think of anything but John mostly.

As if sensing her thoughts, Batista took a hesitant step towards. "Try to forget him," He whispered. "Just for tonight, try to enjoy yourself."

"I don't know if I can." She admitted, sitting down in front of the ebony vanity, automatically reaching for the hairbrush. When she looked up into the mirror, he was standing directly behind her, something akin to sympathy in his eyes. "Please don't pity me." She pleaded. "Don't feel sorry for me."

"It's not you I feel pity for." Batista gently stroked the side of her face with his knuckles, leaning down so they were cheek to cheek, staring into her eyes through the mirror. "It's him, giving you up the way he did… I pity such ignorance…"

Jaden's breath caught in her throat as his hand slowly moved down her neck, and finally coming to a halt over her heart.

"Let it heal, if only for one night."

"What do you want to do?" John asked, sounding thoroughly bored when they had finally left the clothing shoppe.

"I don't know…" Isis admitted, smiling seductively at a young man who paused to gape at her. "I'm full right now so I don't feel like killin' off anyone jus' yet."

John halted, staring at the other man. "Is there a problem?" He demanded.

Isis watched on amused.

"Looking ain't hurting nothing." The other man replied quickly, his face flushing angrily.

"Not yet." John threatened, taking a step forward.

"Oh John, come now…" Isis intervened, placing a small hand on his forearm. "He's just a kid, be nice." She winked at the man. "Why don't you come home with us?"

"Huh?"

John quickly caught on and began to grin. "Yeah champ, come with us and have a drink, let me make up for being a jerk." He slung his arm around the other's guys shoulder.

"Sure…"

"That was fun." Isis sighed contentedly, leaning back against John, her eyes closed.

John had to agree, staring at the remains of the young man, Brett had been his name. Well Brett certainly hadn't had as much fun as they, but still… not everyone was always a winner right?

"I s'pose I should go wash up." Isis yawned, not having to open her eyes to know how she looked, covered from head to toe in blood, her hair caked with it.

"Let's torch this place." John said absent-mindedly.

"What?"

"Let's torch it, I want to go somewhere else anyways, Texas is getting boring."

"I agree with you on that, where too?" Isis sat up, looking at him curiously.

"I don't know…"

Isis smiled suddenly. "Ever been to New York?"

"What's in New York?"

"Some awesome huntin' grounds."

John's smiled was the only answer she needed.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER 14**

Mark was waiting at the staircase when Jaden emerged from her bedroom. "You look nice." He said, taking in her dress and upswept hair.

"Thank you." Jaden stared at him, not bothering to hide her amusement. "This is the first time I've ever seen you dressed up."

"It will be the last." He promised, looking a bit uncomfortable in his black suit.

"Aww…" Jaden teased, taking his arm and allowing him to lead her down the stairs.

"Don't make me hurt you." He grumbled good-naturedly.

Jaden started to reply but halted when she seen Amaranta approaching, her purple eyes only for Mark. "What is going on with her?"

"Other than I'm trying to avoid her?"

"Mark," Amaranta held out a diamond covered hand. "Care to dance?"

"I promised the first one to Jaden." He lied instantly.

Amaranta's gaze turned to Jaden, her eyes suddenly becoming cold. "Lucky girl." She murmured.

Jaden met Amaranta's stare and offered her biggest, phoniest smile. "To the victor…" She whispered as they passed Amaranta.

"You're wicked." Mark chuckled.

"I know but be my date tonight will you? I don't feel like having Batista mooning over me any more."

"Notice that too?"

"I'm not that far gone old man." Jaden shot back. After her encounter in the bedroom with Batista, Jaden's 'spider senses' had gone haywire. Something was very wrong here, she just couldn't put her finger on it, for some an "amicable" companion, to steal Amaranta's words, Batista sure was pushy.

They danced to a couple waltzes, occasionally stopping in order to be introduced to someone or another, by midnight the place was packed.

"I didn't think there were so many of us." Jaden whispered, awed by the numbers. "And to gather in one place, isn't that risky?"

"Money buys anything, including acceptance, most likely mortals think we're all eccentric rich people, which is the norm for this city." Mark replied.

"May I cut in?"

Jaden frowned when she was swept away, by none other than Batista. "That was rude." She snapped, not in the mood for anymore of his soft admonishments or fawning.

Batista seemed to know the game was up because his eyes hardened, the usual gentle smile he had for her was replaced with a mocking one. "Jaden, I don't have time for you to come around my dear." He said coldly.

"You're immortal, all you have is time."

Mark watched as Batista and Jaden danced around the ballroom, apparently exchanging words. He was just about to go reclaim his friend when Amaranta appeared, her hand out.

"You're free now." She said softly.

"I'm tired." He lied flatly.

"Mark…" She whispered, pressing her body against him. "Just one dance, it won't kill you."

Mark stared down at her, feeling more and more uneasy, this beautiful woman reminded him of a spider.

Amaranta's eyes flashed, as if reading his mind.

"I think Jaden and I are leaving." He said, gently but firmly trying to push her away.

Amaranta held fast to him, her strength more than surpassing his own. "So soon?"

"We're loners."

"You're lonely, you miss your woman." Amaranta stated coldly, sounding annoyed.

Mark sighed heavily. "Yes, I miss her."

"She's gone mad, missing her will not change that."

Frowning he shoved her away, realizing that they were no longer in the ballroom. "What's going on Amaranta?" He demanded. "What do you want from us?"

"From you Mark." She breathed, moving towards him, her eyes pleading, her arms outstretched as if to embrace him.

"What then?"

"Just a kiss, just one simple kiss."

"Come with me."

Jaden winced as Batista's fingers dug into her wrist. "Let me go!" She ordered angrily, noticing that no one even looked their way, instead it seemed as if the ballroom was clearing out. "I mean it!"

He whirled around and slapped her, sending her flying backwards.

Jaden avoided the floor, willing herself to rise into the air, glaring down at him.

Batista grinned, revealing his fangs. "I do so love a challenge."

"What's wrong?" John demanded when Isis suddenly stopped, watching as she stumbled away from him, leaning against a tree.

"I don't know…" She admitted, pressing her hand to her forehead.

"Isis?"

She looked up to find him standing over her, his blue eyes worried. "I'm fine John, just gimme a moment to… to rest."

John nodded, grabbing her elbow to steady her as she began to fall. "Isis!"

She slumped against him, shaking her head as if to clear away something. "I feel funny."

He tilted her chin up, studying her thoughtfully.

Isis shivered as if a cold wind had cut through her when in fact there wasn't even a slight breeze. She was surprised when she felt cool lips pressing against hers, responding automatically, her arms going around John's neck.

The kiss lasted for only a minute and when they pulled away, they just stared at each other. Then, simultaneously, their eyes widened.

"Oh my god! What're we doin'?" Isis shrieked, backing away from him, her hands on her face. "What have we done? John?"

John shook his head, staring at her as if just seeing her. "Isis, those people… all those people we killed…" He whispered. "They didn't even deserve it." He turned away from her, hunching over as if in pain.

Isis hesitantly approached him, placing her hand on his back. It was light a veil had been removed from their eyes, their vision now clear instead of… bloody.

"Amaranta." She said softly.

"What?" John didn't bother straightening himself or turning around, just clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the screams of his innocent victims.

"Amaranta! Mark and Jaden are with her and…" Isis grabbed his shoulders, shaking him furiously. "We've got to find them John!"

He nodded, blue eyes clearer then they'd been in a few nights, his jaw set as if steeling himself. Inside his heart was breaking because he was afraid that he had frightened off the love of his life.

Isis smiled sympathetically, preparing herself for another long sprint, she was dealing with the same issues.

Mark stared down at Amaranta, his nostrils flaring. "Kiss you? You're a beautiful woman, I'll grant you that, but you're not my type."

Amaranta's purple eyes widened with anger. She quickly closed the gap between them, slapping him across the face. "You'll regret that." She said softly, raising her fingers to her mouth, tasting the blood she had drawn.

Mark's glared down at her, his own eyes practically glowing. Growling, he moved to push past her only to wind up on his back.

Amaranta towered over him. "Where do you think you're going?"

Jaden frowned from her place near the ceiling, watching as Batista circled the floor, his eyes never leaving her. "This is getting old really fast!" She yelled down at him, wishing she could just fly off, but couldn't because she wouldn't leave Mark behind.

"So come down and play a new game with me." He challenged, an evil yet sensual smirk on his lips.

"I'll pass if it's all the same…" Jaden sighed, wondering just how long she could keep doing this.

Batista growled in the back of his throat, deciding to up the game. Moving to fast for Jaden to watch he leaped onto a table then into the air, one large hand wrapping around her ankle.

Jaden screamed as she was dragged down to the marble floor.

Jaden woke up with a headache. "John?" She murmured, reaching across the bed for him. When she felt his arm she sighed in relief. "All a dream…" She rolled over to him, snuggling her face in his side.

John pulled her on top of him, his muscular body slick with sweat. "What did you say?"

"Oh John, I had the most horrible dream…" Jaden whispered, her eyes still closed. "It had…" She trailed off, eyes opening slowly, blood tears spilling down her pale cheeks.

Batista was staring up at her, his brown eyes mocking. "Ready for round two?"

Jaden woke up screaming.

"Jaden, calm down!" Came Mark's voice.

Jaden opened her eyes, frowning when she felt something cold on her wrists. Her gaze slowly moved down to her arms, surprised to find heavy gray chains cuffing her to the stone floor she was sitting on. "Mark, what happened?"

His green eyes peered at her from out of the darkness. "Last thing I remember is Amaranta's fist coming at me…" He rubbed his head. "That ol' bitch sure does pack a punch."

Jaden frowned. "I was in the air and the next thing I know, I'm here."

"Batista dragged you down here."

"What the fuck is all this about? Do you have any idea?"

"Something tells me it's not about us."


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

"Whoa…" Isis halted.

John froze next to her, reaching out to steady her. "What happened?"

"I just got a thought from Mark." She frowned, concentrating harder. "He's in New York… someplace dark…"

"Asleep maybe?"

"I doubt it." She growled frustrated when she couldn't delve any deeper, couldn't get a response from him. "Come on!"

Jaden and Mark looked up the following night when they heard keys rattling.

"Cozy are we?" Amaranta appeared in front of them, Batista standing behind her. "I do hope these accommodations are suitable for you."

"What the hell is this all about?" Mark demanded, trying to move but the chains holding him in place.

Amaranta studied her long purple painted nails for a moment. "Isis never told you who I was did she?"

"A psycho bitch? We already knew that." Jaden spat out, trying to ingnore the hunger pains that wracked her body.

"I knew Gabriel and Damia," Amaranta continued, almost as if she hadn't heard Jaden. "We were friends… from our, mortal days. When I found out about their deaths…"

Batista stepped forward to place a hand on her shoulder when she began to tremble violently.

Amaranta shrugged him away, clenching and unclenching her fists. "Isis and John are in the city." She said finally, her eyes narrowed hatefully. "I wouldn't bother attempting to contact her," She mockingly rapped her head. "She won't get it."

"What the hell are you?" Mark whispered.

"Entirely different."

"Do you know him?"

Isis followed John's gaze to a very large man approaching them, his eyes locked on them. "Nope. He smells like a vamp to me though."

John frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets. "What's up?" He asked when the unknown vampire halted in front of them.

"Batista." He held out his hand to Isis, ignoring John completely.

More annoyed than amused, Isis ignored his hand. "Should that mean something to me?"

Batista smiled, suddenly looking really dangerous. "Maybe this will…" He leaned forward and whispered something in her ear.

John watched as Isis' eyes first grew wide then narrowed with anger. He winced when he seen her rear back and punch Batista in the face, smashing the big man's nose. "Holy shit." He whistled.

"John, we have to go." Isis said firmly, grabbing his hand and leading him away.

"Do you… smell that?" Jaden whispered, her stomach growling when a tantalizing scent reached them.

"Yes." Mark's voice sounded miserable. "It's a…"

Suddenly a little girl was shoved into the room with them, obviously a runaway, but still an innocent child.

"Oh no…" Jaden's eyes grew wide, trying to fight against the effects this delicious smelling child was having on her.

The girl was cowering away from them, her eyes wide with fright. "Please… please don't hurt me." She begged, tears spilling down her cheeks as she watched these two obvious monsters huddle together, just staring at her longingly. "P-please?"

Amaranta smiled wickedly when she heard the front doors to her house being literally ripped open. "So the fun begins…" She murmured, watching on a security monitor as Isis started attacking her servants. "Hmmm…"

John slipped in behind Isis, ignoring the screaming as she one by one destroyed Amaranta's human sheep. He quickly made his way down the flight of marble stairs and into the ballroom. "Jaden?" He called out, frowning when he seen a purple piece of material laying on the floor. Hesitantly he walked over to pick it up, his heart racing when he caught Jaden's scent on it.

"JADEN!"

Isis stood amid several bodies, her anger only rising when she hadn't been able to glean anything from their minds. She spun around when she heard someone behind her, growling when she seen nothing. "Come out."

Batista stepped out of the shadows, his nose completely healed. His eyes were glowing dangerously as he studied her, not about to underestimate her again.

"You wantin' another one boy?" Isis challenged, crouching down into a defensive stance, knowing he wasn't going to be punched this time.

"Boy? Hardly." His voice was a low rumble in his chest. "I was old before you were even in your mother's womb."

"Good to know. Where's Mark and Jaden?" Isis demanded.

"I'm right here Isis."

She spun around to find Mark approaching her slowly. "Mark!" Isis was across the room and in his arms instantly. "I'm so sorry about what happened Mark!" She whispered, burying her face in his chest.

Mark wrapped his arms around her soothingly. "It's all right baby, it's fine." His green eyes narrowed at Batista paced back and forth behind Isis.

Batista met Mark's eyes and his pacing intensified until he was nothing more than a blur going back and forth.

"Where's Jaden?" Isis asked, reluctantly pulling away from him.

"With John, they're waiting downstairs for us." Mark took her hand and started leading her towards a door.

"John was…" Isis turned to look in the direction John had went. "Mark, I don't want to go down there darlin'. Where's Amaranta?"

"She's not here."

Isis gently tried probing his mind only to find a wall thrown up against her. She took a wary step back. "What's goin' on Mark?"

"Jaden is downstairs with John, let's go get her." Mark repeated, stepping forward to take her hand firmly.

Isis allowed him to lead her downstairs, aware Batista was following them, growing more apprehensive with each step they took. She almost froze when she scented blood, child's blood.

Mark halted at the bottom of the stairs and gently pulled her forward.

Isis almost fainted at what she say.

Jaden was sitting chained to the floor, clawing at the stone walls apparently trying not to attack the little girl that was cowering not far off.

Somewhere it registered that Mark had lied to her but Isis ran to the little girl, scooping her up. "It's all right sweetheart." She soothed, the motherly instincts she'd never need to use kicking in. "No one's gonna hurt you." Isis carried her to steps, pausing when she realized she was blocked in by the two huge men. "Let her through."

Batista stepped out of the way while Mark just watched her.

"Run." Isis whispered, setting the girl down on the steps, waiting until she had disappeared before rounding on Mark. "What is goin' on?"

Jaden had heard Isis' voice and was now on her feet, staring at her friend as if not believing what she saw. "MARK IS ONE OF THEM!" She finally shouted, snapping out of her hunger induced daze.

Isis looked up at him, her breath catching in her throat. "Mark?" Her voice was quiet.

"Bring her upstairs." Came Amaranta's cold voice.

Isis sucker punched Mark when he tried to grab her about the waist, watching with cold satisfaction when he doubled over. She knew she didn't have time for her breaking heart so she pushed all that aside, more intent on killing someone.

"Weakling." Batista muttered, shaking his head in disgust at Mark before he gently picked Isis up in his arms, carrying her like she was a princess. He chuckled when he felt Isis try to fight him, tightening his muscular arms around her enough to make her gasp. "Like I said…"

"Old when I was in the womb." Isis shot back, staring up at him angrily.

Batista just stared down at her, his eyes softening slightly.


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER 16**

John groaned when he seen the girls carted in, snarling when Amaranta wrapped an arm around his waist, leaning against him comfortably.

Jaden was being dragged by her hair, her hands bloody from first the walls now from dragging her nails across the marble floor though her wounds had healed. She screamed when she was tossed across the floor, rolling rather hard into a pillar.

John strained against the chains that held him when he heard a sickening crunch, probably Jaden's ribs breaking. "You fucking traitor!" He yelled at Mark, the veins in his neck bulging with anger.

Mark's green eyes narrowed wickedly as he watched Jaden try to move only to collapse, her body not healing itself yet. "I was never on your side John." He said conversationally.

Batista felt Isis tense in his arms and squeezed her almost reassuringly, meeting her gaze with his own, shaking his head slightly.

Isis frowned, finally finding her voice. "What do you mean Mark?"

Mark tured to face her, a slow smile spreading across his face. "My dear… this entire time, from the moment we left that hellhole town you lived in, I have merely been keeping tabs on you for Amaranta." He tapped his forehead. "You're not the only one who got in here."

This time Isis did manage to break free from Batista, tossing herself onto the man who had smashed her heart. "You son of a bitch!" She roared, her fingers grabbing onto his long hair before she began bashing his head against the floor.

"Now this won't do." Amaranta said coldly, stalking over to them and yanking Isis back. "Don't bother fighting me child, you're no match for me."

Isis glared up at the taller woman, baring her fangs. "Is this what it's all about? That I killed your friends?"

"I'm immortal, revenge is a hobby I've perfected to an art form." Amaranta replied flatly. "Gabriel and Damia were my only links to that past, to my mortality and you, you decided you were going to destroy them." Hate clouded her eyes. "I was away on business when I heard about it and cast out my web, locating Mark. He was already half crazy when I found him. Being turned didn't alter him, he's always been one to dart across that fine line, or didn't you know?"

"If I had I would've killed him on the spot!" Isis spat, watching with sick pleasure as Mark got to his feet, feeling the back of his mushy head. "I sincerely hope that don't heal."

"You're a bitch." He snarled, looking pleadingly at Amaranta. "I've had to deal with this for three years, please, let me kill her."

"Not just yet love." She replied, walking over to slap John's chest. "How about him first?"

Isis found herself back in Batista's hold, struggling in his iron grip to free herself. "This is all a revenge kick against me?" She shouted, trying to distract Amaranta.

"Yes dear and wait your turn."

[Patience young one.]

Isis frowned wondering who the hell that was, then she felt a rumbling from behind her, almost like silent laughter. "Oh!" Her eyes grew wide.

Jaden slowly pulled herself up, looking over to find John shaking with fury, so angry he was unable to speak. Her gaze moved over Mark, then to Isis. Quietly, she got to her feet, watching Amaranta carefully.

Isis met Jaden's gaze and she nodded, watching as Jaden took to the air. She felt Batista's arms relax about her and knew it was now or never. She broke free of him and rushed Mark, physically lifting him and ramming him into the nearest wall.

Mark's eyes were wide with disbelief then pain, never imaginging just how strong she truly was. He didn't waste time though and was soon exchanging blows with her.

Amaranta frowned, realizing this all needed to be wrapped up quickly. Baring her fangs she smiled wickedly at John. "First you, then your little girlfriend." She whispered, her head descending towards his throat.

John could actually feel her teeth against his skin for a brief second, then suddenly Amaranta was jerk up into the air.

"That is MY man bitch!"

Amaranta started screaming, her hands clawing at her hair, struggling to free herself.

"Nobody touches John but me, got that?" Jaden demanded, straining under the weight of another person.

"How dare you!" Amaranta shouted, her purple eyes landing on Batista. "Help me you moron!"

Batista nodded, quickly walking over to grab her about the waist, muscles rippling under his shirt. He glanced up at Jaden before pulling.

Jaden was almost pulled right out of the air but hung on, tugging even harder. She heard Amaranta's cries of pain as she was jerked in two different directions. The next thing Jaden knew she was flying head over heels, unable to control herself as she landed back first, upside down against a wall. "Fuck me that hurts…" She moaned as she slowly slid to the floor, landing on her neck, her legs still in the air though she was slowly bending into a messed up U.

Then she realized what she was holding.

John had watched in amazement as Jaden and Batista had literally ripped Amaranta apart, each winding up with half of her. He would've been lying to himself if he didn't admit he was a tad nervous when Batista tossed down his half of Amaranta and walked over to him.

Batista didn't say a word, just unchained John.

Mark was having a hard time keeping out of Isis' grasp. He had a quick glimpse of her powers and didn't want to feel the full extent of them. When he heard Amaranta screaming only to suddenly be silenced save for a gurgle, he looked over at her.

That was all the opening Isis needed to plunge her fist straight through his chest. Her small hand wrapped around his heart, squeezing for just a moment before ripping it out. She smiled grimly when he turned questioning eyes down onto her. "You broke my heart Mark… Now I'm gonna break yours." She said softly, a couple blood tears rolling down her face just as she crushed his still beating heart in her fist, ignoring the blood that spurted everywhere.

Mark just stared down at her, his eyes never leaving hers even as he started turning into nothing but a hollow shell until finally nothing but his eyes retained their color.

"Goodbye." She whispered bitterly, pursing her lips and blowing at the husk and turning her back, not bothering to watch it break into tiny, weightless pieces.

Jaden stared into Amaranta's still blinking eyes, pushing the upper torso away and scooting back, only for it to bounce off the wall and land in her lap. "John!" She cried, shoving it away again, eyes widening in horror as Amaranta slowly started dragging herself towards her lower half.

John rushed over to her, grabbing Jaden under her arms and pulling her away, his own eyes wide as he watched on.

Amaranta slowly looked up, her eyes already filmed over when a pair of shoes appeared before her. "You… betrayed… me…" She whispered, seeing it was Batista.

He stared down at her, almost sadly and shook his head. "No Amaranta, you betrayed yourself. Everything you taught me was a lie, too bad I only discovered that too late."

Amaranta was pulling her body up, clutching his pants, the blood that had been gushing out the wound where her body had given at now nothing more than a slow stream, her skin already shrunken to her bones. "I gave you life…"

"I give you death." Batista whispered, gently prying her off him, her now brittle fingers snapping.

Jaden and John watched as Amaranta became a living mummy, until finally no more than a pile of ancient ashes and bloodied clothing.

"Is she all right?" John asked softly, watching as Isis wandered around aimlessly.

Jaden shrugged, snuggling back against him, comfortable in her position on his lap. "I don't know, probably not. Mark was her… he was with her all the time… none of us ever knew." She shook her head, closing her eyes against the pain. "All this time he just… lied to her."

John kissed the top of Jaden's head, wrapping his arms around her, his own eyes still fastened on Isis.

"May I walk with you?"

Isis didn't look up as Batista fell into place besides her.

"I wish I could've told you sooner."

She shrugged.

"Isis," Batista gently grabbed her arms, forcing her to stop. "I'm apologizing to you, for the part I played in this."

"You opened your mind to me, I seen you had no choice." Isis said, her voice a dull monotone, though for a moment she couldn't keep the pain from flickering across her face. "I should've known better… He was… too perfect for me…" She pulled away from him, a sob escaping her.

Batista didn't say anything, knowing only time could heal this and time was all any immortal truly had. He just took her hand in his and walked with her, squeezing to let her know she wasn't alone.

"Should we follow them?" John asked, gently shaking Jaden.

Jaden opened her eyes to see Batista and Isis disappearing out of the park and sighed deeply, shaking her head. "No… Let them go. Something tells me he'll take care of her." She hopped down from the rock they had been perched on, taking his hand when he slid down besides her. "Not like we're not never going to see Isis again."

John nodded, smiling down at her. "So superwoman, what now?"

She laughed, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him. "It's spider woman and I don't know, maybe go find us a secluded place to lounge about it."

John chuckled, picking her up so she was facing him, grinning when she wrapped her legs around his waist and kept on walking. "You know beautiful, I think that sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time."

Jaden could only laugh as he spun her around, tossing her head back to watch the night sky.

They both froze when they seen something dark fly over them, too fast for either to make out.

[You young'uns take care…] Came Isis' voice, a gentle whisper in their heads.

"You too girl," Jaden whispered, resting her head on John's, her eyes never leaving the sky. "You too…"

TBC…


End file.
